The Other Nine Rookies
by Brooklyn Peterson
Summary: We know about Naruto and them, but what about these guys? Rated T for Extreme Fantasy Violence.
1. 9 Rookie Students

**Chapter 1: 9 Rookie Students**

It was a sunny day over the leaf village of Konoha and the academy students were training harder than ever. Why? The Graduation exam was coming up.

There were nine students in the class I will focus on. There was Keith, Logan, Jack, Jill, Charles, Courtney, Kim, Donn, and Margo. This particular day was "Show and Tell." The students would show off what they thought was their best jutsu. Keith was up first.

Keith was the chubbiest of all of the students and the tallest so no one messed with him too much because if you called him chubby you would be lucky to only have a broken nose. He walked to the front of the room and stood if front of the class with the class' sensei, Akuri, off to the left. Keith did a couple of hand signs.

"Acid Spitting Jutsu!" he shouted and spit acid out of his mouth onto the ground, thankfully, leaving a good-sized 7 centimeters wide hole in the ground.

"Thank you, Keith!" Akuri said. "But you do know we do not have insurance for this room yet." He sent Keith back to his seat and looked at his clipboard. "Jack! Your turn!"

Jack's thin form shook slightly as he walked down. He stood in front of the class as Keith had done and put his hands into a neutral pose.

"Done," Jack said silently.

"What did you do?" Akuri asked.

"I got you sensei," Jack said smirking.

"Wha..?" Akuri started to ask, but then he felt pressure on his right leg. He looked down and saw a human shadow grabbing his right ankle.

"The Shadow Pick Jutsu!" Jack shouted happily.

"Good job, Jack!" Akuri exclaimed gleefully. "That is exactly what you need to do! Catch your opponent by surprise! Now return to your seat and… Jill! Come on down!"

Jill came down and stood in front of the class. She pulled a small notebook out of her pocket and drew a picture on one of the pages. Then she set the notebook down with it open to that page. She performed a series of hand signs and put her palm on the picture she had drawn.

"Living Drawing Jutsu!" she shouted. A very realistic cheetah came out of the notebook. Jill petted the cheetah and then put her hands into the neutral pose which returned the cheetah to the notebook.

"Very impressive, Jill! Now… Logan! You are up next!" Logan's short stature came out from behind his desk and walked down to the front of the class. He too put his hands in the neutral pose.

"Shrinking Jutsu!" he shouted. All of a sudden, he started shrinking. He shrank until no one could see him anymore. About ten seconds later he reappeared, growing rapidly.

"Very interesting, Logan! Next up… Donn!" Donn walked to the front of the class. He did a couple of hand signs then made his hand into a gun.

"Gun Finger Jutsu!" he shouted aiming his fingers at the hole created by Keith. BANG! A bullet of chakra shot from his fingers into the hole making a smaller hole within the hole.

"Wow! Quite good, Donn! Now it is… Courtney's turn!" Courtney came down to the front of the class.

"Um… I can… I can not really use ninjutsu," she stammered.

"What about genjutsu?" Akuri asked.

"Well… a little bit…" She put her hands into the neutral pose, closed her eyes, and focused. Immediately, everyone else thought they were on a tropical island. Akuri looked around quite impressed and then released the genjutsu.

"Amazing! That is the best genjutsu I have seen in years from a student! And to effect us all at the same time… incredible!" he exclaimed. "But back to business as it is now… Charles' turn!" Charles walked down to the front of the room.

"Fire Style!" he shouted touching his index finger and thumb together and putting them around his mouth. He shout fire out of his mouth into the bowl shaped hole in the floor and created a sphere of fire for a few seconds before it died out.

"Wohohoho! We have an artist of fire in the house! Moving along we have… Margo!"

"Can I go last? Pleeeeease!?!?" Margo pleaded.

"Oh, I suppose. That means that… Kim is next then!" Kim walked down to the front of the class. She did a few hand signs.

"Ghost Jutsu!" she shouted and disappeared. A moment later she reappeared.

"Hmmm… quite interesting! Yes, quite interesting! Ok, Margo! You are the only one left."

"I really do not wanna go, sensei. I mean-" KNOCK! KNOCK!

"Come in," Akuri said.


	2. The Exam

**Chapter 2: The Exam**

The door opened and two ninjas clad in black and green vests stepped in. One looked at the clipboard in his hand and his eyes widened.

"All from this class!?" he whispered loud enough for everyone to hear to the other ninja showing him the clipboard. He motioned to Akuri who walked over to them and stepped outside with them. The classroom buzzed as neighbors talked to each other about what could be happening.

The door opened and Akuri stepped back into the classroom.

"As you all know, the Graduation Exam will be taken next week," Akuri started. "However, due to high test scores, oral exams, and mastery of ninjutsu, genjutsu, and taijutsu a select group of students have been selected to take the exam early from the 102 students attending this academy. 30 students were selected and, amazingly… all of you were selected."

There were a few shocked gasps, some "Of course _I _was selected," and one "Me?"

"You will all take the exam tomorrow!" Akuri said happily. "I have never been more proud of all my students at the same time! Due to the exam tomorrow, I am allowing all of you to go home and rest. Dismissed." he finished vanishing in a poof of smoke.

Everyone got up and left. In the hall everyone was conferring with their friends about the selection and the upcoming exam.

When all the students arrived at the academy, Akuri opened the door to the classroom. When they had all gotten in and been seated Akuri started talking.

"The exam will take place in Room 201B. When you arrive at the room, wait outside. The proctors will call you in by twos. The exam will start in ten minutes. If you have any last minute preparations take care of them now."

Keith started eating a chocolate bar that said, "High in Sulfuric Acid" on the wrapper. Jack practiced moving his shadow around. Jill started drawing in her notebook. Logan kept shrinking and growing. Donn was shooting down flies with his chakra. Everyone was confused because Courtney kept using genjutsu and making the location appear to change. Charles was spitting fire out at regular intervals. Kim kept disappearing and reappearing. Margo just sat there with his eyes closed.

No one knew what the exam would be like and they all were nervous. Yet they looked forward to it.

"You guys better go," Akuri said penetrating the silence. "Two minutes until the exam starts." Everyone filed out of the classroom. They walked down the hall in silence.

When they arrived at the room, it was blocked by two proctors.

"You must be the class of Akuri, eh?" one asked. "Only stinkin' class that had all of 'em get selected."

"The other students are just finishing now," the other said. He consulted his clipboard. "The first two are… Keith and… Logan. Go on in." Keith and Logan walked into Room 201B.

The room was small and desks lined the walls. Three proctors sat behind a large teachers desk.

"This test will consist of a written and physical exam," the furthest left proctor started.

"The physical exam will consist of you doing a clone jutsu and a technique of your choice. This is the physical exam," the middle proctor continued.

"The written exam is a 25 question test- 10 multiple choice and 15 short answer. You will be graded separately on each and they will then be averaged by the rule that the short answers will count for 75 of the test and the multiple choice for 25," the right most proctor finished. "Keith will begin. Please walk to the center of the room."

"The clone jutsu first I think," the middle proctor said. Keith did a few hand signs and then was surrounded by clones of himself that had appeared in a puffs of smoke. "Excellent work. Now have all of your clones and yourself do your chosen jutsu." Keith looked at his clones and nodded. They all hit their stomachs as hard as possible and… they vomited! They put their hands together with their index and middle fingers sticking up.

"Vomit Clone!" they shouted in unison and the vomit rose into a humanoid form.

"Disgusting, but useful," the right proctor said. All the proctors wrote down something on clipboards in front of them.

"Logan, please step forward," Logan walked into the middle of the room. "You will do your chosen jutsu first."

Logan pulled a dagger handle with a strange tooth on the end from a pouch on his back waistline. He did the same sign Keith had done for his Vomit Clone with the dagger between his fingers.

"Enlargement Jutsu!" he shouted and the tooth grew long and wide until he was holding a tooth short sword. _So that is how he grows after his shrinking jutsu,_ Keith thought.

"Very good. Now the clone jutsu," Logan did a few hand signs while somehow managing to maintain hold of the sword in his signs and was then encircled by himself.

"Nice work," the left proctor commented. They wrote down some more stuff on their clipboards.

"Please leave through that door," the middle proctor said pointing to a door on the opposite side of the room from which they had entered from.

Keith and Logan exited through the door as Jack and Jill entered. The proctors gave their speech on the test and then,

"Jill you will go first," the middle proctor said. "Please walk to the center of the room. Jill did so. "Now do your chosen jutsu first." Jill got out her notebook and set it open on the ground. She did a series of hand signs then placed her palm on the drawing in the notebook.

"Living Drawing Jutsu!" she shouted. A bright yellow canary sprang from the notebook. Jill stuck her left arm straight out and the canary flew up to perch on her arm.

"Interesting technique. Now please do the clone jutsu," She did a couple of hand signs with the bird still on her arm.

"Drawing Clone!" she shouted and immediately she was surrounded by canaries that were perched on her everywhere. The proctors looked surprised and they were whispering to each other rather loudly. Jill thought she heard something like "bonus points" said. They quickly scribbled on there clipboards.

"Excellent work, Jill. Now, Jack, please come up." Jack walked to the middle of the room. "The clone jutsu first." Jack was shaking in his shoes. _What if I mess up and she thinks I am an idiot?,_ he thought. He did some hand signs and then was surrounded by clones.

"Good," the middle proctor said. "Now please do your chosen jutsu." All of the Jacks put their hands in the neutral pose. All of a sudden, they were engulfed in chakra.

_Wow! To be able to make your chakra visible… incredible!,_ Jill thought awestruck. The Jacks did a series of hand signs.

"Shadow Armor!" they all shouted. In an instant the chakra turned purple and turned into armor- helmet, breastplate, arm guards, gloves, legs, boots, and a long curved sword in all their right hands.

_To have enough chakra to do that… Jack is more powerful than he lets on in class, _Jill thought.

The proctors looked at each other and wrote down a few things on their clipboards. "You may leave," the right proctor said pointing o the door through which Keith and Logan had exited.

Now Courtney and Charles entered the room. The proctors gave their spiel on the tests and then called Courtney forward. She stepped forward. "The clone jutsu first, please." She did a few hand signs and was then besieged by her clones.

"Your chosen jutsu now," Her and her clones put their hands in the neutral pose. All of a sudden, the proctors thought they had a knife to their throats. The left proctor recognized it as genjutsu and dispelled it.

"Mmm… quite good," the left proctor commented. The proctors then wrote down a few things on their clipboards. "Charles, please step forward." Charles walked to the center of the room. "Your chosen jutsu first," Charles did a few hand signs.

"Ice Style!" he shouted circling his mouth as he had done when he had spit fire from his mouth, but this time he spit ice from his mouth onto the ground creating a pillar of ice.

"Well done. Now please create some clones for us," Charles did a series of hand signs.

"Ice Clones!" he shouted and the pillar of ice split into two separate pieces which changed into living ice sculptures of Charles. The proctors whispered among themselves before writing on there clipboards and dismissing the two. Next in came Donn and Kim. The proctors once more gave their little speech on the test and called up Donn.

"Your clones first," Donn did some hand signs and created a couple of clones. "Good. Now your chosen jutsu," Donn did a lengthy series of hand signs and made his hand into a gun again.

"Machine Gun Finger Jutsu!" he shouted and shot all his clones with rapid firing chakra from his fingers.

"Hmm… I do not recommend shooting your clones in battle, but it did show us your jutsu well," They wrote down a few things on their clipboards. "Kim, your turn." Kim walked to the center of the room. " Show us your chosen jutsu first, please," Kim did a few hand signs.

"Ghost Jutsu!" she shouted. She disappeared as she had done before and reappeared fifteen seconds later.

"Now show us your clones," Clones appeared all around Kim. She had made them while she was invisible and kept them invisible until they were needed.

"Good. Thinking ahead. Anticipation," The proctors wrote down something on their clipboards. "You may go." Donn and Kim left through the door the proctors pointed out into a room a little bigger than the one they had just been in. There was four desks in the room- one in each corner. Courtney and Charles were in opposite corners and the two open desks had a packet of papers and a pencil on them. Donn and Kim went and sat down at the two open desks. In the packet there was rules, an answer sheet, and the actual test. They started immediately after reading the directions and rules.

A few minutes after they had entered, Charles, then Courtney, got up and left the room through another door. A minute later, Margo entered and sat down at a desk. Kim and Donn got up and left a few minutes after that and exited through the door that Charles and Courtney had left through.

They walked into a hallway where all the other students were. Keith was talking to Charles. Jill was playing tic-tac-toe with Courtney. Jack was leaning against a wall glancing around at everything- mostly the tic-tac-toe game. Logan was nowhere to be seen.

A few minutes after they had entered the hallway, the door opened again and Margo stepped in. The there was a poof of smoke and the middle proctor appeared.

"Good afternoon, students," he said.


	3. The Results

**Chapter 3: The Results**

"Where is Logan?" the proctor asked.

"Right here, sir," Logan said growing next to him.

"My name is Ishkaka. I am the head of exams and testing here at the academy," he continued. "All of you will receive a sheet of paper now. I will call you in order." He reached into his back pouch and pulled out nine slips of paper. "Keith Bakura." Keith came up and took his slip. "Logan Elstyl. Jack Erstonep. Jill Genbireder. Courtney Isruttosc. Charles Matog. Donn Sebb. Kim Unesad. And Margo Wastulik. You will find what you seek at the end of the diamond stone road." he finished vanishing in a poof of smoke.

Everyone looked at each other puzzled. What did he mean by a diamond stone road? If any of them had looked at their slips they might have understood for it read, "Congratulations. You have passed the Graduation Exam. Please go to training field 3, 7, or 10 tomorrow morning at 7." What they sought was the training field of course.

When the students arrived at their houses that afternoon they finally took a look at their slips. Now all they had to do was find that road. The exam was just beginning…

They all got up early the next morning so they could find the diamond stone road mentioned by the proctor. They all found it around the same time and walked to the end together. At the end of the road was a tall metal gate with three people standing in front of it- two guys and one girl.

One of the two guys was quite short but looked deadly with his high collared black coat and bandaged hands. Except for his face which had bright blue eyes. The other of the two guys had the deadliest two eyes the students had ever looked upon. In fact,, everything from head to toe looked deadly. He was also the only one that was not smiling. The girl wore mostly white and had a happy face. However you could see worry behind her eyes.

When these people saw the approaching nine they opened the gates and let them walk into a circular area with more gates on the outside numbered 1-10. As soon as they were all inside, including the three strangers, the short one started talking.

"It is nice to see all your young and serious faces!" he said rocking back and forth on his feet. "I am Chris. This is Ashley. And that is Matt. According to the note you received, you will all either be going to training field 3, 7, or 10. Please line up by your respective fields." As they did so, Chris turned to Matt and Ashley. "What do you think of them?"

"They were selected for _us_ for a reason. I believe they will all pass," Matt said in a monotonous voice.

"I agree. Ashley?"

"I agree also. Now let us go. We are keeping them waiting, Brooklyn." Chris surveyed the groups at the gates. At Gate 3 there was Keith, Jack, and Jill, at Gate 7 there was Logan, Donn, and Courtney, and at Gate 10 there was Charles, Margo, and Kim.

"Do not be too hard on them, Matt," Chris said seriously as he departed for Gate 3 while Ashley went to Gate 7 and Matt to Gate 10.


	4. Chris' Test

**Chapter 4: Chris' Test**

Chris opened the gate and motioned for Keith, Jack, and Jill to go in. "Welcome to Training Field 3," he said. Before them lay a grassy field with a lake to the left and a forest straight across. On the right were three tree stumps with a length of rope in front of each. Chris smiled, "This is where the real test begins." He pulled out three bells from his pocket. "To pass this test you must all have a bell by noon or you fail." His eyebrows curved downward. "I have to go check on something." He vanished in a poof of smoke.

"So… all of us have to work together?" Keith asked.

"One would presume since I doubt any of us could take on a Jonin alone," Jill noted.

"If we could we would not be here," Jack said. There was a poof of smoke and Chris reappeared. He shook his head and muttered something under his breath.

He returned his face to a smile and said, "Let us begin with introductions."

"Well… what do we say to introduce ourselves?" Jack asked.

"Um…well, your name… things you like and things you do not. Hobbies you have, dreams for the future, and… something special about yourself," he explained. "I will start to show you how it is done. My name is… Christopher Peterson. I like… well… I like fighting, I suppose. I do not like bratty students who are full of themselves. My hobbies… I have quite a few. My dreams for the future are… quite personal. So I am not going to tell you. And something special about myself is… I invented my own jutsu at age fifteen. We will start with you." he finished pointing at Jack.

"Well… my name is Jack Erstonep. I like… um… I guess I like whatever I find interesting at the time. I do not like… school. I really do not have any hobbies. My dreams for the future are kind of personal too. And something special is… well, I guess I am pretty ordinary." Chris motioned for Jill to start.

"My name is Jill Genbireder. I like flowers and animals. I do not like people that hurt nature. One of my hobbies is flower pressing. My dreams for the future… well, I want to be a medical ninja so I can help others. Something special is that I came up with the idea for a jutsu." Keith started because it was obviously his turn.

"My name is Keith Bakura. I like eating. I do not like sleeping. I think it wastes time. A hobby I have is tasting different chocolates. My dreams for the future… I want to be the best ninja I can be. And something special is that I can retain sulfuric acid well."

"Ok now that we know each other back to business. As I mentioned earlier, you must all have a bell by noon or you fail." The bells hung from under his coat. "You need to come at me like you are going to kill me. Otherwise you will never succeed. You can even use shuriken. Ready? Begin!"

Jack rushed at Chris and threw a couple of shuriken. Chris jumped into the air and dodged the shurikan. While Chris was in the air, Keith did some hand signs.

"Acid Spitting Jutsu!" he shouted and spit acid upwards at Chris. Chris' left eye gleamed and he did a series of hand signs faster than the students ever could have imagined.

"Earth Style! Earth Shield!" he shouted and the ground under him rose up to surround him in a sphere. The acid dissipated when it hit the hardened dirt sphere. Chris' sphere landed on the ground and returned to soil. He charged at them. "Shinobi Tactical Knowledge 1... Taijutsu!" He jumped and did a spinning kick knocking them all in different directions.

Jill jumped behind a tree while both Keith and Jack stormed at Chris again. Jack put his hands in the neutral pose and Keith threw some shuriken. Chris threw shuriken which hit all of the shuriken which Keith had thrown in mid air.

"Shadow Pick Jutsu!" Jack shouted and his shadow reached up to grab Chris' leg. Chris' left eye gleamed and he put his hands in the neutral pose. The shadow grabbed his calf. Jack smiled. "Ha! I got you!"

"So it would appear," Chris said. "Shadow Knife!" He moved his hands from the neutral pose and a shroudy purple kunai knife appeared in his hand. He threw it into the ground where Jack's shadow was and hit the shadow's shoulder.

"Ahhh!" Jack yelped in pain and reached up to a small cut that had appeared on his shoulder. Having been released by the shadow, Chris jumped into the air and did a few hand signs.

"Shadow Explosion!" The knife in Jack's shadow exploded into smoke. Jack and Keith coughed and closed their eyes. By the time the smoke had cleared Chris was no where in sight. All of a sudden, a scream pierced the air. Keith and Jack looked at each other. Jill! They ran in the direction of the scream to the forest. They looked behind several trees before they found her. She was lying face down on the ground in a small pool of blood with a dozen kunai and shuriken in her back.

"Jill!" Jack shouted and ran towards her. Immediately, he stiffened. A kunai had been placed to his throat.

"Shinobi Tactical Knowledge 2... Genjutsu!" came Chris' voice from behind Jack as Jill faded away. Keith ran at Chris and did some hand signs. A clone appeared on each of his sides. They placed themselves strategically around Chris. Chris released Jack and did a series of hand signs.

"Earth Style! Earth Repulse!" Chris shouted. The ground sent out a wave of earth growing bigger as it went out and hit Keith and his clones. Two vanished in smoke as they were hit and the other was sent flying. There was a distant splash heard. Jack, who had been smashed into a tree by the move, got up and fled deeper into the forest. _We need to regroup, _he thought. Jack ran towards the lake where he thought Keith was.

"Jack!" Jack turned around to see Jill running at him with a giant dog at her side.

"Where did you get that!?" Jack asked pointing at the dog.

"I drew it," she said simply. "Where is Keith?"

"Chris knocked him into the lake from a small clearing back there. The lake is… that way," he said pointing in the direction he had been running.

"Well, let us go then," Jill said and continued on the way Jack had pointed. They continued onward in silence until they reached the lake.

"Acid Spitting Jutsu!" Jack looked to their right and saw acid flying at their heads.

"Get down!" he yelled and pushed Jill to the ground while dropping to it himself.

"Thanks," Jill mumbled.

"Any time," Jack replied. Keith walked up to see who he had shot at and saw the two lying on the ground.

"Oh… hehehehehe… um… sorry?" Keith said, head hanging.

"That might be a good pace to start," Jack said.

"Back to business. We have three hours left to get those bells," Jill reminded them.

"How are we even going to find Chris?" Keith inquired.

"Easy. My dog can sniff him out," Jill said.

"Where is this dog you speak of?" Keith asked.

"Well he is right-" Jill started, but she looked to her side. The dog was not there. "Where could-" She was cut off by the sound of barking. The three of them ran along the shore until they saw the dog barking at Chris who was standing on the water looking around. He saw them and did a very long series of hand signs very quickly.

"Shinobi Tactical Knowledge 3... Ninjutsu! Water Sphere Missile!" he shouted. Spheres of water rose up around him and sped towards Keith, Jack, and Jill. Jill threw her notebook open on the ground and quickly did some hand signs.

"Living Drawing Jutsu!" she shouted and placed her palm on the open page. A giant turtle appeared and the water bounced harmlessly off its shell.

"Good enough ninjutsu for you?" Jill asked Chris.

"Not quite," he replied doing some more hand signs. "Shadow Hold Jutsu!" Shadowy arms sprang from the ground and grasped all of their limbs. They struggled briefly while Chris walked across the water towards them. When he reached them, he put his hands in the neutral pose. "Seal!" he shouted and tapped the turtle and dog who returned to Jill's notebook. After they had returned to the notebook, the shadows released hold of their captives.

"Why did you release us?" Jack asked. He never received an answer for Keith threw a few kunai at Chris. Chris seemed surprised and was hit with three in the chest. There was poof of smoke and when it cleared only a stump remained imbedded with kunai.

"Where did he go?" Jill asked.

"A Substitution Jutsu," Keith explained. "He could be anywhere." There was a rustle of leaves behind them and Chris popped out of a bush. He charged at Jack with his hands together and his middle and index fingers sticking up.

"Leaf Village Master Taijutsu Hidden Finger Jutsu!" he shouted shoving his fingers up Jack's butt. "One Thousand Years of Death!" he finished propelling Jack across the lake. Keith and Jill charged at Chris. As soon as the two were within five feet of Chris, he jumped and front flipped hitting both their heads with his heals and knocking them into the ground.

Keith and Jill struggled to get up. When they finally managed to, an imprint of their face was in the ground. They charged at Chris once more and punched. He grabbed their fists and tossed them over his head into two trees. Jack jumped in with his right leg outstretched. Chris grabbed his foot and stopped him. Jack bent backwards and punched at Chris' shin. Chris' other hand caught Jack's fist as Jack's other hand reached for the bells hanging from Chris' belt. He touched them, but them Chris' foot came up and down on Jack's hand. Jack's last free limb, his left leg, came up at Chris' chin. Chris bent his head backwards and Jack's foot missed. Chris released Jack and let him fall to the ground. Keith and Jill got up and stood next to Jack. Jill flipped open her notebook and did a series of hand signs.

"Living Drawing Jutsu!" she shouted placing her palm on the drawing. A rhinoceros appeared in the smoke. She did a couple more hand signs. "Drawing Clone!" Four more rhinoceros appeared next to the original. "Charge!!!" The five rhinos charged at Chris with their heads down and horns gleaming. Chris' left eye gleamed and he did a series of hand signs.

"Earth Style! Earth Bind!" he shouted and hands of earth came up to grab the rhinos. Chris put his hands into the neutral pose. The earth crept farther up the rhinos until it covered them completely. "Earth Crush!" The earth around the rhinos contracted and there was a loud cracking noise as blood seeped out through cracks in the earth. Jack put his hands in the neutral pose. Immediately, he was surrounded by chakra. He did a series of hand signs.

"Shadow Armor!" he shouted as the chakra turned into armor and a sword. He charged at Chris, brandishing his weapon. Chris' eye gleamed as he did a series of hand signs.

"Shadow Armor!" he shouted as chakra appeared and turned into armor. Jack's eyes widened and he let out a gasp of surprise. When he got to Chris, he swung his sword at Chris' right arm. Chris blocked the slash with apparent ease. Jack renewed his assault by swinging at Chris' head, but Chris ducked and slashed at Jack's shins. Jack yelled in pain as the sword sliced through his shin guards and blood spurted from the two cuts that had been created. He fell to the ground holding his shins. As he fell, his armor disappeared like evaporating water. Chris' armor disappeared too, but it seemed to be absorbed into to him rather than evaporate.

Keith and Jill ran at Chris. Jill stopped by Jack and flipped open her notebook to an empty page which she immediately started to fill. Keith pulled out a kunai knife and swung it at Chris' chest, but was blocked by Chris' own kunai. Chris pulled out a shuriken and chucked it at Keith's right knee. Keith jumped backward and threw his kunai at Chris' heart. Chris blocked it with his kunai so and sent it upward. Chris ran a Keith, but then stopped. He threw his kunai at Keith. In that split instant, a bird with a kunai in its chest fell from the sky and was hit with Chris' kunai.

"That was very bad luck," Chris said.

"This is even worse!" Jill shouted from behind him and put a kunai to his throat. "Grab a bell everyone!"

"No you do not!" Chris shouted and he elbowed Jill in the stomach. She fell over clutching her stomach.

"We still have you!" Jack said from Chris' right side. "Look down." Chris looked down to see Jack's shadow grabbing his legs.

"Have we not gone through this before?" Chris asked as he put his hands in the neutral pose. All of a sudden, Jack's shadow released Chris. Jack looked to see what was happening and saw another shadow grappling with his- Chris'.

"How are you doing all these jutsus unique to my clan!?" Jack asked.

"That is… classified information," Chris said mysteriously.

"You can not have memorized-" Jack stopped for he had looked at Chris' face. "Your left eye! It… it can somehow copy my jutsu!"

"It will not help you knowing that now," Chris said. "You only have an hour left." Jack checked his watch. Chris was right for his watch read 11:04.

"Might as well try my best then!" Jack said doing some hand signs. Three clones appeared. Keith and Jill created some clones too. They charged valiantly at Chris. Chris did a series of hand signs and placed his palm to the ground like Jill did for her living drawings. There was a huge puff of smoke and the clones charged into it. It took a while for the smoke to clear, but when it did there was just four people- Keith, Jack, Jill, and Chris. "Hey look! He dropped a bell!" Jack shouted gleefully reaching to pick it up.

He picked up the bell and deposited it in his pocket. Chris jumped at Jack and knocked him to the ground. Keith and Jill managed to pull Chris off of him which, even though Chris was quite small for an adult, proved quite difficult. They also managed to throw him a few feet away from Jack. Chris smiled. A monkey was running at him with something shiny in its mouth. It jumped onto Chris' shoulder and he took the thing out of its mouth. It was the bell Jack had taken.

"Why thank you, Jack," Chris said taking the bell from the monkey and hanging it from his belt again

"Your welcome?" Jack said.

"No no. Not you. I named the monkey Jack," Chris explained.

"Oh." Keith suddenly walked over to Jill and whispered in her ear.

"You sure? I hope you know what you are doing," she said as she took her notebook and did a series of hand signs. "Living Drawing Jutsu!" she shouted and an elephant appeared. Keith put his hands together with his index and middle fingers sticking up.

"Enlargement Jutsu!" Keith shouted. At first nothing happened, but then the elephant grew. It grew to three times its normal size. Chris craned his neck to see to the top of the elephant.

"That is not good," he muttered. He jumped at the elephant and managed to hold on to its side with his hands. Then he put his feet down and released it with his hands. He then proceeded to run up the side of the elephant until he stood on top of its head.

"How did he do that?" Jack asked.

"One: he is a ninja. Two: he is a really good ninja," Keith explained.

"You have a point," Jill said. Chris pulled out a kunai and held it between his index and middle fingers.

"Enlargement Jutsu!" he shouted. The kunai grew and grew until it was about half the size of the enlarged elephants head. "For big problems you need big solutions." he said as he embedded the massive kunai in the elephants head. He jumped off the elephants head toward the three young ninja while doing a series of hand signs. "Earth Style! Earth Shield!" he shouted as he landed next to them. The earth rose up to surround all four of them. As soon as it completely covered them there was a massive explosion.

"What was that!?" Jill screamed.

"I had an exploding tag on the kunai. Your elephant no longer exists," he replied as the earth fell down around them. The remains of the elephant were everywhere. The grass was red from blood and some bones were sticking out of the ground as well as random pieces of skin lying about. The biggest remnant was the elephants two back legs or half of them anyway. Chris jumped back and did a series of hand signs. "Earth Style! Earth Maze!" he shouted. The ground beneath them dropped out about forty feet down and they fell. They landed and surprisingly soft soil.

"What do we do?" Keith asked.

"Chris must be somewhere in this maze. If we go through it we might find him," Jack suggested.

"Or we can use this," Jill said taking out her notebook. She did a series of hand signs and placed her palm on the open page. "Living Drawing Jutsu!" she shouted. A strange combination of a rat and a mole appeared in smoke.

"What is that!?!?" Keith asked incredulously.

"A molerat," Jill responded. "We can use it to dig through the walls." She pointed to a wall to her right and the molerat started eating its way through the wall. "Up for a little crawling?" The three got down on their hands and knees and began crawling through the hole after the molerat. When they emerged from the small tunnel, the molerat was waiting for them.

"Which way now?" Jack asked.

"Well… when we fell, Chris was… that way," Keith said pointing diagonally up ahead to the right. "So if we continue that way there is a higher chance we will find him." Jill pointed the way Keith had pointed and the molerat began creating a tunnel through the wall. They got down on their hands and knees and began crawling through the tunnel again. Jill, who was at the front of the group, stopped near the end of the tunnel.

"Ow! What is it?" Jack asked.

"Chris is in the clearing ahead of us facing the hole," she informed them.

"Do we wait?" Keith asked from the back.

"Yes. We need- oh! He turned around! Now as quickly and silently as possible," Jill said. They continued on their way until they got out of the hole. "Shuriken!" Jill whispered and all three threw some shuriken. All of them hit Chris in the back and he fell over. There was a poof of smoke and Jill's molerat appeared with shuriken in it everywhere.

"Wha…? Substitution!" Keith said.

"Very good," Chris said from behind them as he put his hands in the neutral pose. The earth rose back to normal height. "Much better. Nice work with the molerat too."

"He is stalling! We got ten minutes! GO!" Jill shouted and the three of them charged at Chris. Keith did a series of hand signs.

"Acid Spitting Jutsu!" he shouted and spit acid at Chris who did a series of hand signs.

"Weak Air Bullet!" he shouted and pointed his index finger up under his mouth. A weak breeze came from his mouth strong enough to push the acid back towards Keith. Keith jumped to the side to dodge the acid. They stood there for a while looking at each other. Then Chris, who seemed impatient, charged at them while doing some hand signs. Clones appeared everywhere around him. Jill, sensing trouble, whipped out her notebook and did a series of hand signs.

"Living Drawing Jutsu!" she shouted and a gigantic dragon appeared. One of the charging Chris' did a series of hand signs.

"Jutsu Backfire!" it shouted. The dragon exploded into a giant cloud of smoke. When it cleared only Chris and his clones remained. He looked around and his face became troubled. His left eye gleamed as he looked around. He walked through the clones until he stood in front one in particular and smiled, "Hello, Jack," he said. The clone, now revealed as Jack, jumped into the air and transformed back into Jack. Chris grabbed the rising Jack's ankle and pulled him back down. Jill and Keith came out of the forest with a large ferret at their heals. The ferret jumped at Chris' face and started scratching it. Chris grabbed the ferret and threw it back at Jill and Keith. He then threw a kunai into it.

"There is no way you can win," Chris commented.

"Yes there is!" Jill said. Her eyes brightened. "Ha! Jack!" Jack ran to Jill and Keith as Jill pulled out and opened her notebook. She showed them a picture and whispered something to them. They looked at each other doubtfully. She put her notebook away and put her hands in the neutral pose. Keith and Jack followed suit somewhat reluctantly.

"Transform!" they shouted simultaneously. There was a tremendously huge poof of smoke and Chris waited for it to clear. The smoke finally cleared revealing a 26.2 mile long chimera. What some would call a chimerathon.

_No way they could do that_, Chris thought. He stood awestruck as the huge beast reared. He ran at it quick enough for a cloud of dust to appear behind him. All three heads- snake, lion, and raven- shot acid, fire, and lightning from their mouths at him, but he simply dodged the attacks. He reached the chimerathon about a second after the assault and proceeded to run up its leg. The massive animal attempted to shake Chris off of its body. However, Chris still managed to hang on. About half way up there was another huge poof of smoke. When it cleared, all four ninja were on the ground.

"Why did we untransformed? And why do I feel so weak?" Jill asked out loud.

"Simple," Chris answered. "You used too big of a technique and depleted all your chakra trying to keep it going."

"I will not give up!" Jack shouted weakly and threw a shuriken a couple inches in front of himself.

"Your attempts are futile and in vain," Chris said.

"I will not fail!" Jack shouted. "I will be a ninja!" He started to crawl towards Chris.

"Your determination is… admirable, but you need to know when to give up," Chris said.

"Never!" Jack screamed and continued to crawl towards Chris.

"This kind of attitude will get you killed on a mission!" Chris said sharply. "Do you want that?" A bell rung loudly in the distance. Chris turned his attention to all three of the collapsed ninja. "You fail."


	5. Matt's Test

**Chapter 5: Matt's Test**

Matt motioned for Charles, Margo, and Kim to enter the training field. The field looked exactly like the one described in the previous chapter. Matt walked over and sat on the middle of the three stumps. He studied the three young ninja for half of an hour. First he looked at Charles. _Decent chakra, pretty good mind, and low taijutsu, _Matt thought as he turned his gaze towards Kim. _Good chakra, better focus than the other along with taijutsu, and she can comprehend things others can not, _ he thought. Lastly he studied Margo. His eyebrows arched downwards. _This is the one, eh? And they sent him to me? Great, _he thought.

"Um… are we gonna do something?" Kim asked finally plucking up the courage to say something.

"Of course," Matt replied monotonously. He pulled out a bell from his pocket and attached it to his belt. "All you must accomplish is to touch this bell."

_Wow. That is easy, _ Charles thought.

"It will not be easy," Matt said looking at Charles. "You have till noon. Begin." The three shinobi seemed surprised by the sudden start and reacted slowly. Charles reacted first by charging at Matt.

_I just need to distract him from the bell long enough to touch it, _he thought. _His head is a weak point and far from the bell. I will go for that. _When he reached Matt, Charles thrust his palm at Matt's nose. Matt lazily bent backwards just enough to dodge the attack. Charles jumped and swung his left leg at Matt's head. Matt lifted up his left arm and Charles hit that instead. Matt twisted his arm and grabbed Charles' ankle. Charles swung his other leg around at Matt's head again, but Matt ducked and Charles' leg passed over Matt;s head. He reversed his legs course intending to hit Matt with his heel. Matt's other arm sprang up to grab the heel coming at him. _This is my chance,_ Charles thought and reached for the bell. Matt noticed before Charles hand moved and effortlessly pushed Charles back towards Margo and Kim.

"Is that really all you've got?" Matt asked. "I thought this might be fun, but I guess that charity lunch would have been more exciting."

_How does he keep that face!? _Charles wondered.

"It makes you furious, doesn't it?" Matt asked.

_It is like he is-_

"Reading your mind? Not exactly. A mind is no scroll or book one may open freely and, as you say, read," Matt said, still monotonously. Charles and Matt threw a kunai simultaneously and they collided in midair.

"How can you fight someone who knows what you are going to do next?" Charles asked.

"There is but one way," Matt replied. "It may seem idiotic to you however."

"Not think," Kim explained.

"WHAT!?!?!?" Charles asked, turning around in amazement.

"If you do not think he can't know what you will do next," Kim explained.

"But that is so-"

"Idiotic. Exactly," Matt said. "You have to run at me with no plan until you reach me." Charles and Kim charged at Matt at almost the same time. They both reached him at the same time and punched, but they hit only air. Matt appeared between the two of them. "Your thoughts betray you." He placed two fingers on each of their foreheads and lightly pushed forward. Charles and Kim were sent flying backwards. Charles pulled a kunai out and dug it into the ground to slow himself down. Kim saw him doing this and did likewise.

"There is no way to defeat him," Margo commented to the two.

"I do not see you trying!" Kim snapped. As she came at Matt again. She threw shuriken at him. He bent backwards so far he almost touched the ground, but he did not use his hands. Charles jumped into the air and did a few hand signs.,

"Fire Style!" He shouted as he put his fingers around his mouth. The fire from his mouth reflected off his glasses as it sped towards Matt who started to form a hand sign, but was then engulfed in flame. "I guess he was not so strong after all." Charles said as he landed on the ground.

"Hehehehehe…" came Matt's voice as he stepped out of the flames without a scratch on him. He gave a very evil smile to the young ninja.

"Bu… bu… bu… how?" Charles stammered. "You were hit head on by my attack.!"

"Fire cannot hurt me," Matt explained. "I have always been immune to it. You can't beat me kids."

"Oh yeah!?" Kim shouted as she once more charged at Matt. All of sudden she stopped. "NO! Please! STOP!! Now! Ahhh!" She fell over onto the ground. Matt smirked at the result of his work.

"You think it is funny to beat up someone with genjutsu, eh!?!? I'll show you!!" Charles yelled as he renewed his assault on Matt. He reached Matt and pulled out a kunai. He stabbed Matt right in the middle of his chest. There was a poof of smoke and only a log was left with a kunai in it. Matt appeared behind Charles and stabbed him with a kunai. Charles' eyes widened as he fell to the ground. Margo looked around at his two fallen comrades.

"You killed them! You killed them both!" Margo screamed. His voice deepened as he started to charge at Matt. "I am gonna kill you!" Yellow chakra sprouted from him creating six tails and two wings from his back and extended his features.

_Oh bugger. I did not think I would bring that out of him. Oh well, no big deal, _Matt thought. Margo punched and the chakra reached out farther than his actual fist. Matt jumped up to dodge it, but the chakra curved upwards toward him. _This could be more problematic than I expected, _Matt thought. He threw a kunai with a rope tied onto it into a tree and pulled himself down with it. He put his hands in the neutral pose as he landed and the tree wrapped around him.

"Come out and play so I can avenge my friends!" Margo shouted. He pointed his arm at Matt's tree and his chakra shot out taking out the top of the tree. Matt opened up the back of the tree and stepped out of it. Just as he did so, Margo's chakra hit the bottom of the tree. Matt began charging at Margo doing hand signs and dodging Margo's attacks.

"Seal!" Matt shouted and thrust all his fingers on his left hand into Margo's stomach. The yellow chakra was quickly absorbed into the spot Matt had hit. "Stupid bird." Kim stirred and sat up.

"What happened- oh no! I gotta save-" Kim started.

"No you don't," Charles mumbled. He rolled over and sat up. "It was genjutsu."

"Oh…" Kim muttered as Charles tried to get up. Kim walked over and helped him up.

"Thanks, but… can you get the…ow!" Charles yelped. "But thanks."

"Your welcome." Charles turned to Matt.

"I thought this was supposed to be a test! Not a life or death situation!" he complained.

"You were never in danger of dying," Matt replied. Margo rolled over and got up. He looked at Matt.

"I am gonna kill you!" he shouted and threw shuriken at Matt. Matt threw shuriken and hit all of Margo's shuriken, but there was one more still heading towards Margo. Charles quickly did some hand signs and circled his mouths with his fingers.

"Ice Style!" he shouted and shot ice from his mouth which hit the shuriken making it fall to the ground. Margo charged at Matt again. Matt reached into his back pouch and pulled out a scroll which he placed it on the ground. He unrolled the scroll and did a series of hand signs then placed his palm on the scroll. There was a poof of smoke and Margo charged into it. A hand reached out and grasped his neck.

"That is quite enough," came Matt's voice as the smoke cleared a little more. "Your friends, as you call them, are not dead. Who saved you from the extra shuriken? Charles. Who is trying to sneak up on me to let you pass? Kim." he finished reaching behind himself into the remaining smoke and grabbed an invisible Kim by the neck. He lifted her up and moved her next to the suspended Margo.. Kim reappeared holding onto Matt's hand and gasping for air.

"How did you know I was there?" she asked.

"I have my ways," he said ominously. The smoke had finally cleared revealing a table topped with three cooking pots, a rack of spices, and a wide variety of spoons and knives. Next to the table on either side was a stove and a refrigerator.

"What the heck is all that for!?" Charles asked.

"Well, I did promise I would make my Mom lunch," Matt explained and jumped behind the table. He pulled a scroll out of the spice rack and set it open on the table. He pulled measuring cups out of a drawer concealed in the table top. The three other ninja watched as he measured and cut various substances and put them in a pot. "You guys waiting for Christmas?" he asked as he consulted the scroll before chopping up bits of celery.

"You mean attack?"

"Sure. You haven't got all day," Matt replied shaking some salt and pepper into the pot. He poured water into the pot as all three charged at him. He put his hands into the neutral pose as he looked at the scroll again and a tree root came up and tripped Kim and Margo. He picked up the pot and put it on the stove. He turned on the stove and walked over to the refrigerator. Charles threw some shuriken at Matt, but Matt opened the fridge door and the shuriken hit that instead. Matt closed the door and began peeling an onion into the pot. Charles threw a kunai and knocked the knife out of Matt's hand. Matt grabbed the kunai and started to peel the onion with that instead. Charles reached Matt and jumped at him. Matt reached forward and grabbed Charles' arm. Then he slammed Charles onto the table. He put a tomato on Charles' sleeve and sliced it in half, but left the knife there pinning Charles' arm to the table. He took the other half of the tomato and sliced it up into smaller pieces on Charles' other sleeve and left the knife in his sleeve again so both his arms were pinned down.

"Got you!" Margo shouted from behind Mat and jumped at him. Matt picked up a frying pan and turned around hitting Margo in the face with the pan.

"Where?" he asked. He turned back around and put the pan on the stove. He gathered up the tomatoes he had cut and added them to the pot. Kim attacked his left side, but he blocked with his left arm and leg. He picked up a wooden spoon and began stirring the contents of the pot as Kim kicked at his head. He leaned over to look at the scroll and Kim's leg went right over his head. "Stir quickly for thirty seconds." he read aloud and quickened his stirring pace. Kim attacked Matt quickly with a variety of kicks and punches as he stirred, but he just blocked with his left leg and arm. He lifted the spoon up and tasted the contents while still blocking Kim's assault. "No. Not quite right," he muttered consulting the scroll again. "Ahhh… the chicken." Kim backed off as Matt began mincing a chicken breast.

_He really is an elite ninja, _Kim thought. _And a good cook if he can multitask like that._ She moved around the table and pulled the knives holding Charles down out.

"We need a plan," Charles told Kim.

"But if we think, he will know what we are going to do," Kim pointed out. Charles thought for a moment.

"What if we attack from both sides?" Charles suggested. "All his limbs are not free so we should be able to get him." Charles and Kim went around the table on opposite sides. They both punched at Matt's head, but just before they hit him he ducked down to grab something from under the table and they hit each other instead.

"Ow!" they shouted simultaneously. Matt came back up with tongs and began placing the chicken in the frying pan. Charles and Kim backed off as Margo finally began to stir. He rolled over and groaned loudly. He got up and swayed back and forth while holding his head. Kim ran over and led him to a tree which he sat up against.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Well, ya," Margo replied. "Except for my major headache, dizziness, and ringing in my ears." Charles came over and stood next to Kim.

"There must be a way to beat," he thought aloud. "He must have some sorta… something."

"A weakness?"

"Yes! He must have a weakness!" Charles exclaimed. "But… what?"

"His mind reading skill!" Kim said. "What if we think of something else? Something besides what we are gonna do?"

"Like bunnies?"

"Yes. Like bun- did you just say bunnies!?" Kim asked quizzically. "Oh well. Anyways… do you think it will work?"

"If we can actually think of something else without letting our plan surface," Charles said.

"Ya… I agree," Margo said holding his head.

"Do you think you can actually fight?" Kim asked.

"Sure," Margo said as he stood up. He wobbled back and forth a little, but then he steadied himself. "Let's go." They charged at Matt.

_Demons clashing on a field of molten lava…_

_A tornado tearing up an isolated farm…_

_Bunnies prancing through a meadow of green…_

Margo slid under the table knocking a few cooking materials out of the way. Charles jumped up and swung his leg around. Kim threw shuriken under Charles at Matt. Matt lifted up a spoon and all the shuriken hit it. A wall of molten earth came up in front of Margo which stopped him. Also he put the now empty frying pan next to his head so Charles' attack hit that instead. Matt dropped the frying pan and grabbed Charles' leg as the molten earth crept up Margo's leg and hardened when it got to his knee.

"Owee! Hot! HOT!" Margo shouted. Charles did a quick bit of hand signs.

"Ice Style!" he shouted and spit ice from his mouth at the molten earth. About a foot and a half away from the molten earth the ice melted and then turned to steam. Matt threw the semi-shocked Charles across the field and the molten earth shot Margo across the field into a tree next to Charles. Matt pulled a bowl out from under the table. Kim threw more shuriken at Matt. He lifted up the pot and began pouring the concoction in the bowl. The shuriken ended up hitting the pot making some of the liquid leak out through the side. Matt attached a lid to the top of the bowl and did a series of hand signs. There was a giant poof of smoke and when it cleared all the cooking materials were gone. Matt stepped forward once then vanished. He appeared behind Kim and placed a kunai to her throat.

"Unalert," he whispered in her ear. "That leads to death." Matt stiffened and fell over. Kim turned around and saw Charles standing over Matt's body with a bloody kunai.

"He was right," Charles commented. "It leads to death."

"You… you killed him?" Kim asked as Charles reached down to touch the bell.

"Well-" Charles started, but there was a poof of smoke and Matt disappeared. Charles stood up straight and then he stiffened. He looked down and saw a hand protruding from the ground grabbing his ankle. "Oh dear." He was pulled down quickly into the ground so only his head showed. Matt popped out of the ground next to him.

"Yes. Unalert. However, I was quite alert," Matt explained. You must always be a step ahead."

"DUCK!" Margo shouted from behind Kim. She peered quizzically behind her before dropping flat to the ground just getting missed by several shuriken. Matt did not move a muscle yet all the shuriken burst into flames.

"This is not fair!" Margo whined.

"Yes!" Matt said and, for the first time, smirked.

"So what is the point of trying?" Kim asked.

"That's easy. See… it is… uh," Matt stumbled. "I can not remember, but I am having fun!" He reached down and drew a line in the dirt with a kunai. "You will never get a bell. In fact you probably can not even get past this line."

"We'll show you!" Margo shouted as he charged at Matt. Matt did a series of hand signs.

"Far too rash," he commented. Margo jumped as hands of molten earth sprang up to grab him. They just missed him so Matt performed another series of hand signs. Lightning shot from the sky at Margo. It wrapped around his ankle which suspended him in midair. "I am surprised you dodged my first attack, but you could not stop the second."

"And how was I supposed to do that?" Margo asked as his face turned red from the blood that was rushing to his head.

"If you had thrown a kunai or shuriken it may have diverted the lightning. Anyone with a brain knows electricity is attracted to metal," Matt explained.

"Could you… let me… down?" gasped Margo who was now very red.

"Oh fine," Matt said and put his hands in the neutral pose. The lightning let go of Margo's ankle and was sucked back into the sky. Margo fell from twenty feet in the air. Matt watched and did not do anything.

"Aren't you going to do something?" Kim asked, half screaming.

"No. He has to save himself. He would be a pretty bad ninja if he couldn't save himself from this," Matt said. Kim looked from Matt to Margo and then ran. She caught him a second before he hit the ground and put him down.

"Thank you," Margo said, breathing hard and wide-eyed. "I thought I was finished."

"You almost were," Kim said. "I can not believe Matt would do that!" She turned and ran towards Matt doing hand signs. "Ghost Jutsu!" she shouted. She disappeared, but Matt showed no signs of worry. He spread his feet and pulled out a kunai. He moved his eyes back and forth scanning the area in front of him. He threw his kunai to his forward right. It didn't hit anything. And kept going until it embedded itself in a tree. Matt's eyebrows arched and he frowned. He ran the way he had thrown the kunai. And put his hands in the neutral pose.

"Shadow Knife!" he shouted and lashed out with the shroudy kunai that had appeared. Something seemed to stop the knife. Then Kim appeared and as quickly as she had appeared disappeared in front of Matt. She kept doing this staying visible more each time until she stopped disappearing all together. "I see you can use the more advanced Ghost form," Matt said. "However, I can still see you and, as seen, have techniques that can get you."

"Why can't I move?" Kim asked through gritted teeth.

"I hit a nerve," Matt replied simply. "I sent chakra into it and stopped the brain waves from reaching their target. He jumped back behind his line, but left the knife in her. She grabbed at the handle, but her hand passed through the handle. Then the knife was absorbed into her body by her left shoulder. She realized that she know had no control over her left arm. "Hello boys," Matt whispered and turned around. There stood Charles and Margo. "I could have stopped you if I wanted to."

"Oh sure."

"Do you doubt my power?" Matt said in a menacing yet still monotonous way as smoke began o come from the grass around his feet and the air became noticeably more humid.

"You were focused on Kim. There was no way you could have seen or stopped us," Margo said. The grass around Matt emitted more smoke and the grass nearest his feet turned black. Margo and Charles faces felt like they were standing a few feet away from a bonfire.

"Oh I saw you alright. I saw you dig Charles out with a kunai. I saw Charles freeze over the hole. And I saw both your hands twitch towards your shuriken pouch right now," Matt said. "I also see Kim trying to sneak up on me again." He reached back with his right hand which shot blue strings into Kim who then walked forward to stand next to Charles and Margo as if led by Matt's hand. As soon as she stood there, the strings disappeared. "Oh yes. I also noticed the pit fall to my back and right. Quite poorly constructed with the limited time."

"How do you see all these things? We were behind you! I did not even know my hand twitched!" Charles exclaimed. Matt smiled almost evilly.

"I have my ways," he said mysteriously and then threw shuriken at his opponents just as they did. All the shuriken hit each other and clattered to the ground.

"How did-"

"Hands. You can tell a lot about a person from their hands, but we won't get into that now," he explained.

"There is no way you could see such a small motion as a twitch!" Margo said.

"Obviously there is as I have done it twice," Matt said.

"The purpose of this test must be to humiliate us!" Charles said. "They put us up against a Jonin who sees every movement we make, can fight while cooking, and can read minds!"

"Actually the purpose is to test your abilities to see if you are ready to become Genin," Matt explained. "This is the real Graduation Exam. You aren't really Genin yet. Judging by the way your going you never will be." The three young ninja gasped.

"Then what was the other test for?" Kim asked.

"To weed out the week candidates. The ones that would never pass this test," Matt said.

"Wait a second…" Charles said checking his watch. "We only have ten minutes left! Attack!" Charles ran at Matt and punched. Matt leaned back and dodged. Then he spun around and extended his leg to trip Charles. Now Margo charged with kunai blaring. He swung it at Matt who stepped back to dodge it. Then he stepped forward, grabbed the kunai from Margo, and knocked over the head with it in one swift motion. Next Kim charged at Matt who spread his legs and slanted his arms at 45 with his left arm down and his right arm up. As soon as Kim got within three feet of him, he turned and poked her twice with two fingers.

"Two!" He turned around again and her four times. "Four! Eight! Sixteen! Thirty-Two!" he shouted and sent her flying into a tree with the last poke. Charles got up and jumped at Matt's back with his leg extended. Matt turned, grabbed Charles' foot, jumped and let go, and then kicked Charles into a tree. Seven minutes passed before they all stirred from their unconsciousness. They sat up and saw Matt sitting in a lawn chair with a platter of food on his lamp and a glass of lemonade by his side. A clock next to the lawn chair rung. Matt looked at each of the young ninja. "You fail." he said simply and popped a strawberry into his mouth.


	6. Ashley's Test

**Chapter 6: Ashley's Test**

Ashley opened the gate and smiled at Logan, Donn, and Courtney as they entered the training field that looked exactly like the others.

"Welcome to Training Field 7," she said.

"Man, I am glad we got you for a teacher," Donn said. "The other two were kinda creepy. Especially that Matt." Ashley turned to him not looking as she had before. She looked angry as she charged at Donn. There was a poof of smoke and cleared revealing Chris holding Ashley in a full nelson.

"Ashley, calm… down!" Chris said struggling to maintain hold of Ashley who was half a foot taller than him.

"But he insulted you and Matt!" Ashley pointed out.

"So? Neither Matt nor I care so you shouldn't either," Chris said releasing his hold. He turned to the three ninja. "Do NOT, I repeat, do NOT insult myself or Matt in front of her. Especially Matt." He poofed away.

"I guess I should apologize," Ashley said sheepishly looking at the ground. "Best not wallow in our grief!" she continued smiling again. We will start with introductions! Say your name, something you like and something you don't. Hobbies you have, dreams for the future and something special about yourself. Allow me to show you how it is done. My name is Ashley Ozark. I like the color orange and reading. I don't like people who are ignorant, think they are better than everyone else, are overconfident, or say I can't do something because I am a girl. My hobbies are reading and collecting and arranging flowers. In the future I want to be stronger and have a family. And something special is that I let my emotions get the best of me. Who wants to start?" she finished. Courtney and Logan raised their hands. "I agree. Donn. Your turn."

"But I… Oh fine. My name is Donn Sebb. I like designing weaponry. I do not like emotional girls. One of my hobbies is designing weaponry. In the future I want to be in the military. And something special is that I have designed four types of weaponry." Ashley motioned for Courtney to start.

"My name is Courtney Isruttosc. I like pirates. My uncle is one you see, but ninjas are better. I do not like… the ground. I have always wanted to fly. One of my hobbies is painting flowers. My dreams for the future… well, I guess I want to be stronger. And something special is that I have terrible ninjutsu, but my genjutsu is pretty good." Ashley motioned for Logan to finish introductions.

"My name is Logan Elstyl. I like playing video games. I do not like people who make fun of me for being short. One of my hobbies is playing video games. My dreams for the future… I do not know. I haven't really given it much thought. And something special is that I have a knife made from a great white chimera tooth."

"Wow! I really want this group to pass! You are all so interesting and different," Ashley said.

"Wait. Pass what?" Courtney asked.

"Oh! I forgot to explain!" Ashley said hitting herself in the head. "I guess I got so caught up in the introductions that-"

"Explain what!?" Donn asked.

"Hold on! I was just getting to that!" Ashley snapped. "Anyways, I am about to test your skill, speed, strength, and power. All you have to do is get this bell." She pulled out a small silver bell and attached it to her belt. "You must work as a team to accomplish this. You also need to come at me with the intention of killing me, but please don't. I have a life I want to live. You have till noon. Oh and… uh… if you fail this test you go back to the academy. Ready…? Begin!" She jumped back so her back was to a tree as the three students began their assault. They ran towards Ashley with Donn on the right, Courtney in the middle, and Logan on the left. Courtney made Ashley think Logan jumped at her with his leg extended when really Donn did. Logan jumped up and did some hand signs.

"Shrinking Jutsu!" he shouted and landed on the arm Ashley was going to block him with. Donn's foot connected with Ashley's stomach and she was knocked to the ground. Donn put a kunai to her throat so Courtney dispelled the genjutsu. Then she walked over to take the bell.

"I'm sorry," Ashley said. Donn and Courtney were blown back, Donn into a tree and Courtney into the fence surrounding the field. "Are you guys okay?" Ashley asked deeply concerned.

"You can worry about them later," Logan said growing His hand was already tight around the bell.

"I am gonna have to make 1000 apologies today," Ashley whispered loud enough for Logan to hear. She moved her right leg quickly to the right which tripped Logan and made him lose hold of the bell. Then she got up and jumped into the tree behind her. _Dear me. These three will get the bell soon if I am not careful._

"Hello," came Courtney's voice from behind Ashley.

"Nope. You are not there. Not after what I did," Ashley said putting her hands together with the middle and index fingers sticking up. "Release!" The Courtney behind Ashley vanished. Ashley scanned the field. Donn was holding the top of his head. Courtney had several cuts on her back. Logan was looking around because he had lost track of Ashley. "Are you guys okay?" Ashley said jumping down from the tree. She ran towards Courtney and her hand glowed green. She placed her hand over each cut and they healed instantly. Ashley started to run over to Donn.

---------------------------------

'_Do remember, Ashley,' Matt said. 'Do not heal the opposition. Ever.'_

'_Ya. If you do they will be stronger and you will waste chakra,' Chris said._

'_But-' Ashley started._

'_Only if it is life threatening,' Matt interrupted her. 'If it is life threatening you may heal the little pipsqueaks.'_

'_Ok.'_

---------------------------------

Ashley stopped halfway between Courtney and Donn. _I almost forgot,_ she thought. _Life threatening injuries only._

"Thank you," Courtney said from behind Ashley.

"Anytime," Ashley said turning around. "But I can't do that again."

"Why not?"

"I wasn't supposed to. I'm only allowed to heal life threatening injuries on you guys," Ashley explained. Ashley whipped out a shuriken and spun around just in time to block a kunai attack from Logan. "Shoot! Wrong pouch."

"Shoot, eh?" Donn said while doing hand signs. He made his hand into a gun and pointed it at Ashley. "Machine Gun Finger Jutsu!" Bullets of chakra shot from his fingers at Ashley. She jumped out of the way, but Donn turned his hand toward Ashley and kept firing. Ashley caught each bullet of chakra and made two spheres of chakra, one in each hand, out of the collected chakra. She combined the two spheres when Donn stopped shooting into one big sphere.

"The Chakra Grenade!" she shouted and threw it at the three ninja. Logan quickly did some hand signs.

"Enlargement Jutsu!" he shouted. An acorn in front of him suddenly grew fifteen sizes. The chakra ball Ashley had thrown hit the ground in front of the acorn and exploded. After the explosion subsided, there was an enormous hole in the acorn as if a giant squirrel had taken a bite out of it. Ashley landed by punching the ground. Enormous cracks came from where her fist had connected. The remains of the giant acorn were tossed into the forest by the upset ground and the three shinobi were thrown onto their backs.

_What insane strength,_ Logan thought.

"Oh! Are you guys okay?" Ashley asked.

"Aren't you supposed to be fighting us? Why should you care how we are?" Donn asked. "I bet those other two freaks don't care what happens to their opponents!"

"Because I, unlike those other two "freaks," have feelings and emotions! I do not like people being hurt!" Ashley snapped.

"How can you be a ninja then? Ninjas have to kill people!" Donn pointed out. "You should find a jutsu that cuts out your emotions!"

---------------------------------

_Three years ago…_

'_How about this one, Ashley?' the Hokage asked. 'Just take out this Lightning ninja, Akyuti Sinoki. People call him Flask though.'_

'_I guess I could do it…'_

'_Hahahahahahaha!' Flask laughed. 'You are at my mercy now!' Ashley lay on the floor in a small pool of her own blood. Her left arm had been broken and she had cuts on her everywhere. 'But first I'll do this! Hahahaha!' Flask did some hand signs. 'Soul Style: Character Destruction!' Ashley felt intense pain. As if every bone in her body had broken and come through her skin. Then it all slipped away. She couldn't feel love anymore. She couldn't understand that Flask did his work because he had too. She couldn't feel love, kindness, or understanding. She wanted to be sad, but she couldn't be. All she felt was anger, hate, and the want for revenge. She stood and gave Flask the evilest stare ever given. She punched through his gut with her working arm and then yanked it out. He gasped in pain so she relieved him of his pain by knocking his head clean off his shoulders…_

…_Ashley walked into Konoha steaming and still injured. Medical ninja rushed her to a hospital…_

---------------------------------

"NO!" Ashley shouted. "You made me remember!" She charged at Donn and punched him in the chest. There was a loud cracking noise at contact and then he was sent flying backwards through a tree and then into another. "Oh no! What have I done!?" Ashley shouted and ran to Donn. He was having trouble breathing because his rib cage had been smashed in and his spine had broken when he hit the tree. Ashley's hand turned green and she ran it over Donn's chest and back. He stood up good as new. "I'm sorry," he said. "I'm sorry for making you remember… whatever."

"I'm sorry too," Ashley said. "I let my emotions get the best of me." Ashley and Donn walked back into the area where Courtney and Logan were still standing. Donn didn't waste anytime getting back to business. He jumped and swung his leg around at Ashley's head. She grabbed his foot out of reflex and tossed him towards Courtney and Logan. They both moved out of the way and Donn hit the ground. He did a couple of somersaults before he could get up. Logan pulled out his tooth dagger and did hand signs while holding it.

"Enlargement Jutsu!" he shouted and the tooth grew to make a short sword. He ran at Ashley and slashed at her. She stepped back, but the tip of the sword still managed to make a cut on her left arm. Logan slashed again. This time Ashley blocked with a kunai. The two exchanged blows for a minute or two until Logan backed off to were Donn and Courtney stood. Donn threw a boomerang with pointed edges and a rope through the middle of it to the right of Ashley. It went right past and came back to Donn who caught it. Then he threw another one of the boomerangs to Ashley's left and it came back to him. Now her legs were tied up by the ropes that were attached to the boomerangs.

"Boomerang Shuriken!" Donn shouted smiling. Ashley took a kunai out and began to cut through the ropes. Donn pulled on the ropes and tripped Ashley. Courtney and Logan went over to get the bell. Once more they were blown back. Logan got knocked into Donn who let go of the shuriken. Courtney got blown away and skipped over the surface of the lake. Ashley undid the rope around her legs and stood up. Logan got up and charged at Ashley again. He slashed at Ashley's legs with his sword. She hopped back and pulled out a kunai ready to block his next attack. She hammered away at his left side and knocked the sword out of his hand. Logan dived for it, but Ashley got it first and pointed it at his throat. She turned around suddenly and parried a blow from Courtney who had been trying to sneak up on her. Ashley stabbed the sword in the ground and jumped off its hilt. She brought her heal down on Courtney's head making her face plant. Ashley stiffened and looked down to see an enlarged tooth sticking out of her stomach. There was a poof of smoke and Ashley disappeared. Logan looked and saw his sword had disemboweled a stump. A kunai was placed to his throat.

"At least you three are pretty good and keep me on my toes," Ashley said. A kunai was placed to her throat.

"Pretty good, eh?" Donn said.

"Yep. Just pretty good," Ashley said as she came up behind Donn and placed a kunai to his throat.

"How- clones," Donn answered his own question.

"Lower your weapon," Ashley said.

"Not unless you and your clone do too," Donn bargained.

"Fine. On three… one… two… three," Donn and the Ashley's slowly lowered their kunai. As soon as they were fully lowered one Ashley put her kunai back to Logan's throat and the other grabbed Donn's collar and threw him into a tree so hard his head stuck. "Oh! Are you okay?" The Ashley who had thrown him ran towards the tree and tripped. Courtney got up and put a kunai to Ashley's throat.

"Give me the bell," Courtney demanded. Ashley rolled over onto her back.

"No," she said smiling. Courtney was blasted back into Logan who had been quickly released and they were both sent into a tree. Ashley got up and walked over to Donn who was still stuck in the tree. She grabbed his shoulder and yanked him out of the tree. He turned around and punched at Ashley's head. Ashley grabbed his fist and turned him around so his arm was behind his back and bent at the elbow with his hand in the middle of his back. "It is rude not to thank someone that just helped you." Ashley let go and moved to the side. Donn turned around just in time to see six shuriken embed themselves in his chest. Courtney and Logan rushed over to Donn. Courtney yanked one of the shuriken out.

"Ow!" Donn yelled. "Warn me before you- Ow! Logan!"

"Hey what is that over there?" Courtney asked pointing to Donn's right. He turned his head to look.

"I don't know. I don't see any- Ow!" Donn yelped as two more shuriken came out. "Stop that!"

"I'm taking one out," Logan said as he yanked another shuriken out.

"Ow!"

"I did warn you."

"Here. I'll get the last one myself," Donn said and placed his hand on the last shuriken. He pulled it out. He gritted his teeth and his eyes watered, but he didn't say a word. "Back to our goal." Courtney and Logan moved to the side and turned around. Ashley was gone.

"Where could she be?" Logan asked.

"The forest," Courtney suggested.

"That's our best guess," Donn said. "Split up. I'll take the middle. Logan take the left. Courtney you take the right. If you find her shout. Move out!" They all split up going into their designated parts of the forest. They searched for about half an hour before Courtney shouted. Donn and Logan moved quickly to where they had heard the shout. Courtney used genjutsu on Ashley to make her think she was in a box. Ashley quickly dispelled the genjutsu and engaged Courtney in close combat. Donn and Logan arrived at a small clearing where Courtney and Ashley were fighting. Ashley thrust her palm forward at Courtney who backed up and was missed by the palm, but was sent flying backwards into a tree. Donn did some hand signs and popped out from behind a tree.

"Gun Finger Jutsu!" he shouted. Ashley looked towards him and was hit right between the eyes with a bullet of chakra. She fell over and Donn walked into the clearing. Ashley got up surprisingly quick from where she had been hit. Logan came into the clearing from the right of Donn and Courtney got up to his left. Ashley was surrounded. The three closed in to make Ashley's escape even more difficult. Ashley spread her legs and put her hands in the neutral pose. Chakra built up around her. Then the chakra went towards Donn, Courtney, and Logan in a wave knocking them all backwards into trees.

"Are you guys okay?" she asked.

"Yeah. Just dandy," Donn groaned.

"Never been better," Logan mumbled.

"I'm sorry guys, but I'm supposed to do my best," Ashley apologized.

"I understand," Courtney said putting a kunai to Ashley's throat. Ashley grabbed the kunai and turned Courtney around so the kunai was pointing at her head. Donn and Logan came up behind Ashley and managed to drag her to a tree and pin her to it with shuriken. Then Donn took out a special kunai with three points. It had long points on the outside and a short one in the middle. He stuck it in the tree around Ashley's neck so that if she gulped she would get scratched by the short point. Donn reached to take the bell when a loud ringing noise filled the air.

"I'm sorry," Ashley said. "But the time limit has expired."


	7. Final Results

**Chapter 7: Final Results**

The Jonin led all the rookies into the central area with all the training fields branching off. The nine lined up with the groups next to each other. Ashley went down the line healing any injuries the young ninja might have. After she finished with them she turned to Matt and Chris.

"You, of course, are injury free?" she asked them.

"Of course." She ran up and hugged Matt who didn't even flinch.

"Oh I am so glad your alive!" she said running over to Chris and giving him a hug too. He started to return it, but then thought twice.

"Ashley, we have nine young individuals who need some information," Chris said.

"Oh, right," she said and walked over to stand on the other end next to Matt.

"Now, you all have just taken a test. None of you passed. However, we Jonin are going to talk about your abilities and see if you should return to the academy," Chris said and he and the other two Jonin formed a tight circle.

"They showed potential, but failed to work as a team much," Matt whispered to the other two.

"My students were quite exceptional and almost achieved their goal," Ashley said.

"Mine were quite foolish near the end and depleted all their chakra. One refused to give up. What an idiot," Chris put in.

"Yes, but you will remember the Sixth-" Matt began.

"Yes. Yes. I know about that," Chris interrupted. They continued their discussion for about fifteen minutes before finally turning back to the nine now impatient ninja. "After due consideration, we have decided-" Chris was cut off by the gates opening and a women rushed in. She had brown hair and looked about twenty-one. She wore black capris and a red zip-up sweatshirt. She walked briskly in the direction of the Jonin. "Oh. Nieca. What is the matter?" She reached him and whispered something in his ear. "Is it really that urgent? Couldn't the Sixth…?" he whispered back loud enough for the other ninjas to hear. Nieca whispered something more in his ear and he nodded. He then went over to Matt and whispered in his ear. Matt nodded.

"Ashley, stay with the students," Matt said. "We have business to take care of." Chris and Nieca vanished in a poof of smoke and Matt just vanished. Ashley turned to the group of students.

"Well, I guess I ought to get to know you all," Ashley started.

"But none of us passed," Charles pointed out.

"Well, I like to know people," she replied. "So how about names?" She motioned for Logan to start.

"Logan Elstyl."

"Courtney Isruttosc."

"Donn Sebb."

"Charles Matog."

"Margo Wastulik."

"Kim Unesad."

"Jill Genbireder."

"Keith Bakura."

"Jack Erstonep."

"Well, I'm Ashley Ozark," Ashley said. "Now this is what you will happen. If you have failed you will go back to the academy and continue classes there. Then you will try again next year. If you have passed you will be assigned-" She was interrupted by a poof of smoke in which Chris and Nieca appeared. Matt appeared next to them. Chris quickly rolled his right sleeve down as Nieca went over to Ashley. Jack would have sworn he saw blood on the bandages going up Chris' arm. Nieca whispered in Ashley's ear. "Oh! Are they-" Nieca covered Ashley's mouth and whispered in her ear again. "Oh. Sorry." Nieca walked briskly out the gate and closed it.

"Anyways we have considered your skills," Chris began. "And we have decided that all nine of you that have taken this test today have……………… passed." There was a great whooping and cheering and high-fives and pats on the back. "Starting tomorrow Jack, Jill, and Keith will do missions with me."

"Charles, Kim, and Margo are with me," Matt said.

"That means Logan, Courtney, and Donn will do missions with me!" Ashley finished smiling.

"Dismissed!" Chris said. The nine got up and walked towards the gate talking and exchanging stories. Donn turned back to ask a question and saw Matt whispering in Chris' and Ashley's ear. They both assumed troubled looks so Donn turned around and ran to catch up with the rest of the group.

_The next day…_

"Are you in position?" came Chris' voice through the ear piece.

"Yes."

"Aye."

"Positive."

"The target is thirty feet southwest of your current location," Chris said. "Move out!" Jack, Jill, and Keith moved quickly through the forest. They soon reached a clearing.

"There's the target," Jack whispered. It ran deeper into the forest and the three Genin followed it.

"Stay on target, stay on target," Keith said. They reached another small clearing in the forest. Jack jumped out and tackled the target.

"Identification?" Jill asked.

"Yeah. It looks like I has a ribbon on its ear. Ow!" Jack said as the cat scratched his face. "Man, I hate cats!"

"But it's so cute!" Jill interjected.

"Bring it back to the village now," Chris said. The three returned in less than five minutes with the cat and met Chris at the gate. "Good job! Now let's get this back to the owner." The four of them walked through Konoha to a building and went up to its third floor. They walked down the hall and Chris stopped a few doors down. He knocked.

"Enter," came a voice from inside. They walked into a circular room lined with windows towards the street and a desk in front of the windows littered with papers and scrolls. Ashley's squad was off to the left and Matt's squad was in the middle of the room. There was a man about in his early twenties seated behind the desk with a huge bowl of ramen off to his right. Nieca stood behind the desk up against a window. A plump woman stood next to the desk and came running at Jack who still had the cat when they entered.

"Oh! My cat! My dear Tora!" she sang and grabbed the cat from Jack's arms. She squeezed it tightly against herself.

"I can't imagine this the first time this cat has run away," Jack whispered to Keith and Jill.

"It isn't," Chris assured Jack. The woman went up to the desk and placed something on it before departing. "I am sorry if I interrupted something, Lord Hokage."

"Oh no. Join the party!" The man behind the desk said cheerfully. "Congratulations to all your squads on completing your missions so quickly! Now, what shall I give you next…" He shuffled through the papers and scrolls.

"Something more interesting this time, please," Jack said.

"Yeah! Something less boring!" Margo agreed.

"And more difficult!" Logan put in.

"Well until you become higher level ninja, I can't-" the Hokage started.

"Oh come on!" Jack, Margo, and Logan pleaded. The Hokage smiled.

"I was exactly like this when I was your age," he commented. He sat back in his chair and thought for a moment. He looked through a scroll and then looked up. "I have decided to send all of you on an A-ranked mission."

"Lord Hokage-" Nieca began.

"Are you questioning my authority?" the Hokage asked.

"Very sorry, Sixth," Nieca apologized.

"I am sending all three of your squads to take care of Ikstaka's squad," the Sixth Hokage explained turning back to the Genin. "This is a Sound Village squad led by the Jonin Ikstaka." Chris spat. The Hokage continued not noticing Chris' apparent hatred of the name. "The other three members of the squad are all Chunin level. They are Ligtigh, Castrah, and Houtacki. There squad is more of a small group of rouges who travel through the Fire Nation killing travelers and ninjas escorting travelers and creating other forms of havoc. Find them and wipe them out. All of them."

"Lord Hokage-" Ashley began.

"Yes?"

"My students don't kill. They are just Genin right now."

"I was quite young when I killed my first man."

"You weren't as young as they were," Matt argued emotionlessly.

"That may be, but I'm sure they can handle it," the Sixth Hokage said. "However, if they can't handle it… it does seem the ramen shop dishes are piling up…"

"NO!" Jack shouted. "We can handle it! Right guys!?" There was a thunderous 'Yes!'

"Ok! It is decided!" the Hokage said. "Dismissed!"

"Oh. One last thing…" Chris said. "Are you gonna finish that?" He pointed at the bowl of ramen. Matt hit Chris over the back of the head.

"Of course he is you idiot!" Matt yelled.

"Sorry… Naruto," Chris said as he followed his squad out the door.

The twelve ninja walked to the village gates after packing a backpack full of necessities for their trip and walked outside the village. For some of them it was their first time leaving the village's walls. They walked down the path while the Jonin conversed.

"How are we gonna do this?" Charles asked.

"We are going to ask travelers of Ikstaka's last known whereabouts," Matt said.

"So where are we going now?" Logan asked.

"We know of a farm that was burnt about fifty miles from here. One of the occupants survived third degree burns just long enough to tell of four sound village headband wearing ninja were the cause. So it is likely we may meet some travelers who have encountered them or better yet run into them ourselves," Chris said.

"Chris?" Jack asked after a few seconds of silence.

"From now on the title sensei should follow that, but what is it?"

"Well, I was wondering, since you are our sensei now… couldn't you tell us how you copied my jutsu?" Jack asked.

"I would prefer not to tell you," Chris said.

"Oh. Ok…" Jack said sadly.

"Well I suppose… if you really want to know…" Chris said. "Myself and my brother, Matt-"

"Wait. You two are brothers!?!?" Jill asked.

"Yes. Surely I told you that?"

"Not that I remember."

"Well now you know. Anyways, myself and Matt come from a very small clan with the most unique blood line trait ever."

"What is it?" Donn asked curiously.

"Nothing. Our blood line trait is a blank gene. A gene with no information on it. We can copy another clan's blood line's information onto it so that we would then have that blood line. I copied the shadow eye," Chris explained.

"The shadow eye?" Keith wondered aloud.

"The shadow eye is created when a member from the Uchiha clan and the Hyuga clan have a child. The Sharingan and the Byakugan combine and create the shadow eye which has the properties of both Sharingan and Byakugan without the blind spot," Jack explained.

"How did you know that!?" Jill asked.

"The shadow eye is my blood line." Everyone gasped, but the Jonin.

"But how would you get a shadow eye if all the Uchihas are dead? Everyone knows they were wiped out!" Charles pointed out.

"That story is for another time," Chris said.

"Yes because we must get moving again," Ashley said. The group began to move again.

"Does Matt have the shadow eye then?" Kim inquired.

"No," Matt replied. "Chris was only able to copy one blood line. That was normal, but my blank gene mutated and copies itself every time I copy a blood line. So I copied the Sharingan and Byakugan separately. Then, because of the mutation, the Sharingan and Byakugan combined."

"So wouldn't that make you have the shadow eye?" Courtney asked.

"No. The Byakugan part of my eye has a blind spot and my eye turns a different color when I activate it," Matt explained. "Instead I have the ByakuSharingan. No other man alive has that."

"I think I see someone up there," Ashley said pointing down the road. "Let's see if they know anything."

**Authors note: If you have an idea for this fanfiction feel free to share it. (I do not want any ideas for all powerful characters, weapons, jutsus, and/or animals.)**


	8. On the Trail

**Chapter 8: On the Trail**

The twelve ninja quickened their pace and gasped when they saw their destination. It was not one man but two. One was severely injured and leaning on the other for support. Ashley rushed up to the two men and laid the injured one on the ground so she could begin healing him.

"What happened to him?" Chris asked the other man.

"I don't really know," the man said. "All I know is he needs to get to the Hidden Leaf Village. You would have to ask him." The other man got up looking good as new.

"Thank you…"

"Ashley."

"Thank you, Ashley. If there is anything I can do to repay you-"

"Actually, there is," Matt cut in. "What happened to you?"

"I was in a caravan of about thirty merchants bringing goods to your village to sell," he started eyeing their headbands. "About a mile back down the road we were attacked by four people- three guys and one girl. All of them wore headbands with a music note on it. I don't know what village that is-"

"Sound."

"Oh. Anyways, I watched as they slaughtered my fellow merchants. I was hit in the back of the head and blacked out. I guess they thought I was dead because I regained consciousness soon after. All the other merchants were dead and most of the jewelry was gone. Then Ukari came through the wreckage and found me. I asked him to take me to the Leaf Village and then we ran into you," the man finished.

"Thank you for the information," Chris said. "Let us continue, citizens!" Matt hit Chris over the head before continuing with the rest of the group.

"Is that smoke?" Courtney asked after a little while pointing to some smoke rising from half a mile ahead of the group and a little to the left of the road.

"Goodness it is. Where there is smoke there is fire which is started by humans or lightning. And saying as there is not a cloud in the sky," Matt said.

"Forward!" The group continued at a more rapid pace until they reached the part of the road the smoke was coming from. The bushes to their left shook.

"Ready yourselves," Chris said spreading his legs. "We may have found our target." A duck walked into the middle of the road and turned its head to the group.

"Aflac!" it shouted and walked into the bushes on the other side of the road.

"What the heck was that?" Chris asked shaking his head.

"A cute duck!" Ashley said.

"No. A distraction method," Matt said. "We had found the target. The smoke stopped meaning they have left. That duck had a tracking device on its leg. This way." He and the other Jonin walked through the bushes on the left side of the road. The Genin followed him and entered a small clearing. In the middle of the clearing there was embers left from a fire.

"They left in a hurry," Charles said noticing a half finished chicken leg lying in the dirt. Chris, Matt, and Ashley examined the area closely.

"Brings back memories, doesn't it?" Chris asked running his hand up a tree.

"Oh yes," Matt said. "This way. Broken branch." Matt pointed up at a small crack in a branch on a tree.

"Only you would notice that," Chris said looking at it and squinting. He jumped up onto the branch. "Well let's go." He called down to the Genin as the Jonin jumped up to branches level with the one he was on.

"But it is like ten feet in the air," Margo said.

"Then use branches closer to the ground to get up," Chris said. Jack went first and jumped onto a low branch. He jumped onto higher and higher branches until he was on a branch level with Chris'.

"Nothing to it guys," he shouted down. The other eight came up employing the same method he had until everyone stood on the same height.

"Which way from here?" Ashley asked. Matt looked around.

"Follow me," he said. He jumped from branch to branch with great precision and the Genin followed in a single file line. Ashley went behind the fifth Genin behind Matt and Chris brought up the rear. They came to an abrupt halt about ten minutes later.

"What's the matter, Matt?" Chris asked from the back coming up to the front with Ashley.

"That," Matt said pointing ominously at a body hanging from a branch eye level with him. It had a piece of paper attached to it with a kunai. Matt walked forward and pulled the note off. "We know you are following us. Stop if you wish to live," Matt read. Shuriken fell from above at Matt. They burst into flames a foot away from his head. Chris performed a series of hand signs.

"Shadow Hold!" he shouted. Shadowy arms came out of the tree and grabbed hold of something invisible. A man appeared with half of a black mask depicting the devil on the left side of his face. He had spiky black hair pushed back by his sound village headband and a red vest over his dark blue turtle neck. He also wore black shorts that went down to his shins. "Ikstaka." Chris spit out the name with disgust. "I hate you."

"I know," Ikstaka said. Chris put his hands in the neutral pose.

"I'm going to kill you for what you did," Chris said as the shadowy arms began to spread over Ikstaka.

"Still playing with shadows?" Ikstaka asked.

"Why do you care?" The shadows now surrounded all but Ikstaka's head.

"Wait, Chris. What about the other ones in his squad?" Ashley asked. "They are bound to be around here somewhere."

"So? I am going to kill him. We will have no trouble with them after he is gone," Chris said. The shadows tightened around Ikstaka and crushed him. No blood spurted out though. No bones cracked. "What!? Genjutsu! Shoot! Now I can't kill him! Oh he is gonna pay for what he did!"

"What did he do that was so bad?" Keith asked. "Besides being a rouge." Chris was silent for awhile.

"I don't like to talk about it," he said. "Which way, Matt?" Matt took off in a direction and once more Ashley was in the middle and Chris was at the back.

"Ashley?"

"Yes?"

"Do you know what Ikstaka did?" Courtney asked. She was just behind Ashley.

"If Chris doesn't want to talk about it I shouldn't either," Ashley said.

"Please?" Courtney pleaded catching up to Ashley.

"Hmm… ok, but you can't tell ANYONE. Got it? Not a soul," Ashley said. Courtney nodded. "Before we were Jonin-"

"Who?"

"Myself, Chris, Matt, and Ikstaka. Chris, Matt, Julie, and I-"

"Wait. Who is Julie?"

"The other person in our squad at the time. We were sent to get rid of Ikstaka because he was a growing threat. We engaged him in battle and Matt succeeded in burning the left half of his face really badly. That's why he wears that half mask. Even injured… Ikstaka managed to kill Julie."

"So that is why Chris hates Ikstaka? I still don't understand."

"Yes, but you don't realize… Chris _loved_ Julie. So when she died, he got extremely angry. Angrier than I have ever seen him or want to see him. He attacked and nearly killed Ikstaka. I don't think Ikstaka has even fully recovered from the damage Chris dealt yet. Chris was about to finish Ikstaka off when Sound Village shinobi showed up to save Ikstaka. We grabbed Julie's body and fled," Ashley finished.

"So… Chris hates Ikstaka because he killed the one Chris loved?"

"Exactly. Chris has vowed to kill Ikstaka. When we engage Ikstaka and his squad in combat, do not go for Ikstaka. Chris will kill you just to kill Ikstaka."

"That's… terrible. How can Chris live with that?" Matt stopped abruptly so Ashley and Chris came to the front. Another body was hanging from a branch and Matt had a note in his hand.

"They seem to want to fight us," Matt said showing Chris and Ashley the note. "Think it's a trap?"

"Even if it is we can get out of it, right?" Chris said. "There is twelve of us and four of them."

"Stormtrooper effect," Matt said simply.

"Yes, but we can split up our squads for the Chunin," Ashley pointed out.

"And Ikstaka?"

"He's mine," Chris said with a hint of blood lust in his voice.

"Well, now that that is settled we can move on," Matt said depositing the note in his pocket. "Follow me!" he yelled back to the Genin and went off to the left. The Jonin assumed their positions in the line as Matt led them onward. This time they stopped at a clearing with a small lake on the left. A waterfall was falling from a cliff and crashing down on the surface of the water. The Genin spread out into their squads with the Jonin in front of them. The Jonin then turned to their squads.

"You three will fight will fight with me against Houtacki," Matt told his squad.

"We will fight Castrah," Ashley said to her squad.

"And you three will fight Ligtigh," Chris informed his squad.

"Wait. What about you? Who will you be fighting sensei?" Jack asked.

"Ikstaka," he said and smiled evilly.

"I see you've come," came Ikstaka's voice. There was a poof of smoke and he appeared with his squad behind him. The furthest left one behind Ikstaka wore a high collared coat like Chris' only it was white. His hands were stuck in his pockets and his stare seemed to pierce through the air. The middle one, who was the only girl, had long blood red hair (_Hopefully that's natural,_ Donn thought.) and several bracelets made of white links resembling bones. The furthest right ninja had a belt with numerous daggers hanging from it. There was also a dagger on each of his arms, one in his boots, one on each leg, and even one attached to his neck. All the daggers were different. Some had jewel encrusted handles while others had wooden or metal handles. Some were long or short or curved or thin. One of the daggers was in a sheath with a strange symbol on it. On his back was a broad sword which nearly touched the ground and whose handle extended above his head.

"Why hello, Ikstaka. You seem to have forgotten your manners as you have not granted us the pleasure of introducing your… associates," Matt said. Ikstaka smirked.

"How foolish of me!" he said sarcastically. He pointed at the furthest left ninja. "Houtacki." He paused after he pointed at the middle ninja. He crossed his arms. "From the information you have I bet you could tell me the other two's names."

"Castrah, Ligtigh," Chris said pointing at the middle ninja and then at the rightmost ninja. "Now, how is this going to work? I don't want you pulling any of your tricks."

"You don't expect us to take you all on do you?" Ikstaka asked. "4 against 12?"

"It would be 3 against 11," Chris stated. "You and I will fight one on one."

"Oh ho. You want revenge, don't you? She deserved it anyway! After what I suffered!" Ikstaka yelled and ripped off his half mask. Underneath the mask was an entirely blackened face that resembled ashes. There were cracks everywhere and it seemed if you touched his face it would all crumble away. The worst part was his eye. The eye was completely white and red veins arched around the outside of the eye.

"Everyone deserves death, but not everyone gets it the way you deliver it, darn it! She didn't deserve it anymore than you do. And, I remind you, it was not her who made you suffer!" Chris yelled back. Now everyone was confused except the Jonin and Courtney. "And now she shall be avenged. And for pete's sake put your stinking mask back on!" Ikstaka placed the mask back on his face.

"Fine then. You and me."

"I'll hold you to your word," Chris said. "Then my squad will fight Ligtigh."

"Mine will fight Houtacki," Matt said.

"And that leaves my squad with Castrah," Ashley said. Her cheer seemed to be leaving her.

"3 against 1?"

"Correction: Two fights will be 4 on 1 and one will be 3 on 1"

"That isn't fair!"

"We can kill you now."

"Fine. It's settled then. Do you want the fights one at a time or all at once?" Ikstaka asked.

"All at once would just be 12 against 4 a little split up. One at a time, I think. The viewers will have protective jutsus place around them," Chris suggested.

"Agreed." Chris and Ikstaka walked forward and shook hands.

"Goodbye… old friend."

"The order will be as follows," Matt announced. "My squad will face Houtacki. Then Chris' squad against Ligtigh. Following that will be Ashley against Castrah. And finally Chris and Ikstaka will fight."

"Well then let the first match begin!"

"We are so diplomatic," Chris said walking back to his squad.


	9. Matt's Squad vs Houtacki

**Chapter 9: Matt's squad vs. Houtacki**

Margo, Kim, Charles, and Matt moved to the center of the clearing to face Houtacki as Chris and Ikstaka performed several jutsus to create a protective enclosement for the spectators. When they were finished, they went into the cave-like area and settled down on opposite sides. The enclosement was made out of ten foot thick hardened dirt. There were small, two feet thick walled hallways leading towards the battlefield and foot thick windows made of ice that were easy to see through at the end of each hallway.

"I hope you are ready to die, boy," Matt said.

"I have always wondered how to do that," Houtacki said in the same monotonous voice Matt used.

"Alright, you three, I'll just hang back till you really need me," Matt said.

"Why?"

"Because if I went in right away, it wouldn't be a challenge for you," Matt said. Matt backed up a little. "Don't worry. I will not allow you to die. Savvy?"

"Are you guys going to yap all day or actually fight me?" Houtacki asked rolling up his sleeves to reveal two gold bracelets that stretched from his wrist to his elbow. "Show me what you got."

"He asked for it," Kim said and performed some hand signs. "Ghost Jutsu!" She ran at him and disappeared as she did. Houtacki threw shuriken in a wide arc, but none of them hit Kim. Charles and Margo ducked under the shuriken and Matt jumped over them. Houtacki looked around completely confused by Kim's jutsu.

"Don't forget about us!" Charles said doing some hand signs. "Fire Style! Fire Ball Jutsu!" A big fireball shot out of his mouth at Houtacki. Houtacki jumped up to avoid the flames. Charles did another series of hand signs. "Element Reverse!" The fire stiffened and became a pillar of ice. The ice slanted upward and flew at the now airborne Houtacki. Houtacki grabbed the end of the icy pillar and landed on the ground.

"What are you gonna do now, little man?" Houtacki asked smirking. Charles did a few more hand signs. The ice curled over Houtacki's hand and the pillar went vertical. Two lengths of ice shot out the bottom of the pillar and another length of ice connected the pillar with the ice around Houtacki's hand. Another length of ice came out the side and a small lump came out the top. In about ten seconds details were chiseled on by an invisible artist to create an icy replication of Charles.

"Ice Clone!" Charles shouted victoriously. The other arm grabbed Houtacki's other hand and ice slipped up his arms. _I've seen this move!_ Houtacki thought. _I can not let this encase me!_ CRACK! Two semi-circular blades popped out of Houtacki's long bracelets and cracked the ice that was creeping up his arms. "Ahhh!" Charles screamed as the ice clone started chipping everywhere and then fell apart.

"Nice move," Kim said reappearing behind Houtacki and putting a kunai to his throat. "But not good enough."

"Really?" Houtacki whispered and turned around quickly with his arm level with Kim's stomach so the semi-circular blade left a deep cut across her stomach.

"Ahhh!" she screamed and fell over clutching her stomach.

"You are gonna pay for that," Margo said. He charged at Houtacki and threw some shuriken. Houtacki lifted up his arms so the shuriken hit the semi-circular blades instead of him. Margo continued running at Houtacki and did a series of hand signs. "Dimensional Portal Jutsu!" A purple vortex appeared inches ahead of Margo and he jumped through it. As soon as he was through the vortex closed._ What!? There is no way this kid could pull off a jutsu like that!_ Houtacki thought. _But it wasn't open that long…_ Houtacki smiled. _He probably exhausted most of his chakra doing that._ Houtacki cringed as shuriken hit his back and he fell to his knees. He looked behind him to see Margo standing a few feet away."Cash back?" Margo asked. Houtacki gritted his teeth and faced Margo.

"You don't realize this fight has just begun," Houtacki said. Margo walked up to Houtacki's back.

"Really? You… are… lying… on… the… ground… with… lots… of… sharp objects… in your… back," Margo said and with each word kicked the shuriken further into Houtacki's flesh. Houtacki coughed and spit up blood.

"True strength comes from more than your body and chakra," Houtacki said gritting his teeth. "It comes from your friends and the ones you care about. Your just a kid. You don't know what it means to be shinobi."

"I know I need to protect my village and I know what my job is: to kill you," Margo said and kicked the shuriken deeper into Houtacki's back. Houtacki spat up more blood.

"But I have people I care about! And I will not die!" Houtacki yelled. The shuriken were blown out of his back by a surge of chakra straight at Margo who was standing behind. Margo whipped out a kunai and blocked most of the shuriken coming at him, but one of them hit him in the shin and the other in his shoulder. Margo fell to one knee and clutched his arm.

"Charles!" Margo shouted. "A little help!" Charles ran at Houtacki and pulled out a kunai. He slashed at Houtacki, but Houtacki blocked it with one of his arm blades. Houtacki lunged at Charles' stomach and Charles jumped back. Charles did some hand signs.

"Earth Style! Kunai Enhancement!" The earth came up and attached itself to the end of his kunai elongating it to about two feet. Houtacki backed up and pointed a kunai at Margo.

"Move and the boy dies! Put down your weapon!" Houtacki ordered. Charles hesitated before throwing his sword into the ground. "Ha! You are an idiot! I'm still going to kill him! Don't you realize that?" Houtacki pulled back the kunai and lunged at Margo's head. The earth came straight up and knocked the kunai out of Houtacki's hand. Margo took advantage of Houtacki's surprise and took out his legs. Charles ripped his sword out of the ground and ran at Houtacki's position. He stabbed at Houtacki who rolled over to avoid the stab and then kicked up. He swiped at Charles' sword and cut it up with his arm blades.

"Oh crap!" Charles said as Houtacki began a quick series of attacks which Charles was barely able to dodge. Suddenly Houtacki stiffened and shook all over. His head tilted sideways and his neck cracked. His arm blades retracted back into his bracelets.

"I'll finish him," Houtacki said in Kim's voice and pulled out a kunai knife.

"Wait. What's going on?" Margo asked from his place on the ground.

"I have taken control of Houtacki's body through my Ghost Possession Jutsu," she said, "Our souls are one now."

"Isn't that like the Mind Transfer Jutsu?" Charles asked.

"Yes, but… our souls are one," Kim said. "However… he doesn't have much say in what happens unless his soul is strong. And this… takes far more chakra… too much chakra… especially to keep it going… I grow very weak… I must… finish… this…" Houtacki's body raised the kunai.

"But if it is like the Mind Transfer you will hurt yourself!" Charles objected.

"It must be… done…" The kunai came down. Charles dashed the short distance between him and Houtacki and punched Houtacki's body hard in the forehead. The body went flying and a ghostly image of Kim flew out the back. Both bodies bounced off the ground and then slid to a halt. Matt appeared suddenly next to Kim and ripped open her jacket. He felt her chest, wrist, and neck in quick succession.

"No pulse, no pulse, no pulse! STAT!" Matt yelled and pushed against Kim's chest. Kim's body jumped a little off the ground. "Charles finish this! I need Ashley quick, but she can't come on till the fights over!"

"Can't you do it?"

"Restart her brain and heart at the same time? Heck no! I'm not that good! I can keep her alive for awhile, but finish this quick!" he hollered. Charles grabbed the kunai that had fallen out of Houtacki's hand and ran to Houtacki. He lunged at Houtacki's heart. Houtacki's hand came up and grabbed the kunai's edge.

"No," Houtacki whispered silently as blood trickled down his arm.

"Why can't you be a good boy and die!?" Charles shouted violently. He grabbed another kunai and this time lunged at Houtacki's neck. Houtacki's other hand grabbed the kunai again. "Matt! How is she?"

"She has minimal pulse! I'm barely keeping her alive! Hurry up!"

"You should worry more about your life than hers," Houtacki said. Houtacki put his feet on Charles' chest and kicked. Charles let go of the kunai and was sent flying into the air. Houtacki threw the two kunai and some shuriken at the airborne Charles. Charles closed his eyes. _This is it,_ he thought. _I'm done for. I'll never be able to do anything more with my life. Kim will die because of me…_

_Not gonna give up now, are ya, hotshot?_

_Who… who is there?_

_A mysterious voice sent to you by the author in this time of great peril. Not very realistic, eh?_

_The author?_

_Never you mind him. Let's focus on you. If you don't try to live, none of your dreams will come true. And what of Kim? She will die. You will both be dead._

_At least then we would be together…_

_Shut up! If you care about something, protect it! Now fight! _Charles opened his eyes to see the kunai and shuriken flying at him. He did some hand signs.

"Fire Style!" Charles shouted and shot fire at the weaponry flying at him. The heat of the flames melted the kunai and shuriken before they reached Charles. He landed on the ground and ran at Houtacki. _Why didn't my Demoralizing Jutsu work?_ Houtacki thought. _I was taught by the best at Soul Style!_ Charles did some hand signs. "Light Style! Blinding Light Jutsu!"Houtacki's vision turned white. He smiled and closed his eyes. Charles pulled out his last kunai and threw it directly at Houtacki's heart. Houtacki jumped and dodged the kunai. _Impossible!_ Charles thought. He reached Houtacki and punched at his head exactly like he had done when Kim was possessing Houtacki but this time Houtacki grabbed Charles' fist and twisted his arm. CRACK! Houtacki dropped Charles' arm and it hung limp. "You can't possibly know where I am moving!"

"I can. I was taught by the best at Soul Style, the master himself: Flask," Houtacki explained. "If I focus enough, I can see every living things soul as if my eyes are open."

"But a kunai isn't living! How did you dodge it?"

"I saw your arm move and judged when to jump."

"Quickly Charles! I'm starting to lose her!" Matt shouted. Houtacki kicked Charles in the face and Charles flew a couple feet before sliding to a halt.

"How can I help?" Margo asked kneeling down next to Matt.

"Put your hands over her heart and brain and send jolts of chakra into them," Matt said standing up. Margo placed a hand on Kim's forehead and the other over her heart.

"Where are you going, sensei?" Margo asked.

"To finish this," Matt said. Houtacki walked towards the collapsed Charles. Matt appeared in front of him. "Die." He poked Houtacki in the center of his chest and Houtacki fell over.

"No… I can't die… Ikstaka-sensei… Ligtigh," Houtacki moaned. "Castrah… I never… never even… told her… I… I…" He trailed off and breathed his last breath. Charles looked at Matt.

"What just happened?"

"His rib cage caved in and crushed all his internal organs," Matt answered simply.

"Wait. You could have done that… the entire time… and didn't?" Charles asked weakly.

"No challenge in immediate victory," Matt answered and bent down to close Houtacki's eyes. Charles got up suddenly and quickly for the condition he was in.

"What about Kim?"

"Margo is with her," Charles half-limped, half-ran to where Kim lay. Kim's eyes opened a little and closed. Then they opened fully.

"M-Margo? Wh-Where are we? What happened? Is this heaven? Are we dead?" she asked.

"Not yet," Margo responded.

"Wh-What are you doing? Why are you touching me?" she asked childishly.

"I'm keeping you alive, but if you'd rather die, I can let go."

"Don't let go," Charles said. Ashley rushed onto the battlefield and ran towards them.

"Move. Move. Move! Let me do it!" she said. Margo backed away and let Ashley in. Ashley picked up Kim gently and carried her to the enclosement. She set her up against a wall to begin her work as Ikstaka and the rest of his squad went outside to collect Houtacki's body. Chris pulled out a notepad and opened it to about halfway through.

"What's that for, sensei?" Jack asked.

"For recording the number of kills Matt has," Chris said marking down a tally on a very full page.

"That's a lot of kills," Jack said looking at the pages before the open one.

"Oh this is nothing," Chris replied closing the notebook and putting it back in his pocket. "You should have seen the other ones."

"Other ones!?"

Matt may be young, but he has had quite a few missions, especially assassination. This is my fifth notebook I think."

"There. With adequate rest, you'll be fine," Ashley said getting up.

"What was wrong with her?" Matt asked.

"Well, um… she had severe internal bleeding in her forehead which somehow disrupted the brainwaves telling her heart to keep pumping. A very strange condition, but she should be fine now."

"Thank goodness," Charles said. Ashley looked at him curiously.

"Chris," she said motioning him over and whispering in his ear. He walked over to Charles and place his bandaged hand on Charles' forehead. He chuckled and walked back to Ashley to whisper something in her ear. She sighed and turned back to Kim. "Well, Kim, we have good news and bad news."

"What's the good news?"

"You're alive."

"And the bad news?" she asked worried.

"The zipper on your jacket is broken."

**Author's Note: ****In case you were wondering the part where the earth came up and knocked the kunai out of Houtacki's hand was Charles' kunai. Charles had thrown it into the ground and then extended it further with the Kunai Enhancement Jutsu. Also, I do realize I haven't really described my characters at all and that will be the topic of my next chapter. That way you will be able to better visualize the fight scenes. **


	10. Descriptions

**The Characters of Brooklyn Peterson's ****The Other Nine Rookies**

Akuri- the sensei that taught the other nine rookies before they were Genin. Looks a lot like Iruka minus the huge scar across his face. A pretty new teacher to the academy. 18 years old

Jack Erstonep- the youngest member of the Erstonep clan Jack holds the unique power of the Shadow Eyes. Having lived in the shadow of his brothers for all the years he has been at the academy, Jack strives for perfection and to stand out. Jack is quite thin and wears worn-out, hand-me down jeans from his numerous brothers. He also wears a black t-shirt with a sun on the front and a moon on the back. Jack often forgets to put on socks and shoes as he is often in a rush to get to the academy in the morning. Blonde hair and blue eyes. 10 years old. Love Interest???

Jill Genbireder- a young girl with a very good sense of fasion and likes flowers. If she wanted to, Jill could go an entire year and not repeat wearing an outfit. However, she is often forced to wear a floral, pink top and white shorts so she does not hinder her athletic ability during training. Brown hair that covers the top quarter of her back and brown eyes. 10 years old. Love Interest???

Keith Bakura(Last name not meant to be the name of that character from Yu-Gi-Oh!)- Keith scored the second highest on the written part of the Graduation Exam. He is pretty smart, but he doesn't like to study so when tests come he often doesn't know things he should. Keith is somehow related to the Akimichi clan and is quite pudgy. Likes to eat. Chocolates are his favorite. Wears green shorts and a black shirt. Spiky brown hair and green eyes. 10 years old. Love Interest???

Logan Elstyl- comes from a family of very short people. Wields a short sword. Is known to try to sneak off campus to play video games. Very short, only about three and a half feet tall, wears blue pants and a zip-up sweatshirt over a simple white Tee. Short brown hair and blue eyes. 10 years old. Love Interest???

Courtney Isruttosc- can play four instruments. Sense of hearing a little bit better than an average human's. Never really wanted to be a ninja (she wanted to be a pirate), but her father forced her to. However, once she tried it she loved it. Tan capris and a white top with sleeves reaching down to the mid-forearm. Same length hair as Jill as well as color. Blue eyes. 10 years old. Love Interest???

Donn Sebb- looks up to his father who is a great military commander in the Hidden Leaf Village. He wants to be just like him. This has influenced him to train harder and more effciently than the others. Makes designs for new weapons in his spare time. Creates some of them. Black pants with lots of pocket to hold the weapons he has made. Grey, open vest with pockets on the inside to store more weapons. Black hair in short buzz cut and green eyes. 10 years old. Love Interest???

Charles Matog- Charles aced the written Graduation Exam. Very sharp mind. Wears glasses even when he fights. Charles spends late nights studing ninja techniques and looking for ones he might want to learn. Grey, slimmed down pants to give extra mobility. Tight fitting white shirt so sleeves don't get in the way. Brown, curly hair that doesn't even reach his neck. Brown eyes. 10 years old. Love Interest: In case you hadn't noticed from Chapter nine, Charles likes Kim.

Kim Unesad- Kim comes from a clan that normally operates at night, hence the Ghost Jutsu. Her clan is in charge of most of the Leaf Village's stealing and assasination. Therefore, Kim was brought up with a killers instinct and taught 'finders keepers, losers weepers.' Wears pretty tight, black pants and a grey shirt that reaches down over her waist making it kinda look like a skirt. Slightly tan skin with black hair reaching a little past her shoulders. Black eyes. 10 years old. Love Interest???

Margo Wastulik- Mother died in his early childhood of disease. His sister ran away because the only person that had loved her was their mother. Margo killed his father, who abused him, at age six, a few days after he started training his training at the ninja acdemy. Has lived by himself ever since. Doesn't have many friends. Rough, beaten skin. Unkempt, brown hair and green eyes. 10 years old. Love Interest: If Chapter Nine led you to believe that Margo likes Kim, he doesn't. Just clearing a few things up.

Christopher Peterson- was disrespected in his youth by almost everyone. The only people that did respect him were the few friends he had. Living in the shadow of his brother Matt, who excelled at everything, didn't help. He proved himself a fine ninja in time though and gained respect later in life, especially after he invented his own jutsu. Wears black pants, black shirt, and black coat. Rolls sleeves of his coat up when he fights. Heavily bandaged arms. Has never told anyone but Ashley why he has bandages, and she wouldn't tell anyone. Short blonde hair and blue eyes. 21 years old. Became a Jonin 6 years ago. Love Interest: Julie, Last name unknown at this point (deceased)

Matthew Peterson- little is known about Matt except that he is related to Chris and that you shouldn't get on his bad side. Wears all black Jonin atire. Golden Brown hair and green eyes. 25 years old. Became a Jonin 8 years ago. Love Interest: Matt has made a point in his life not to give his heart away but someday he may. Who knows?

Ashley Ozark- Extremely nice and is always saying sorry when she does something that someone dissaproves. Seems to have deep inner sadness, but she is always happy. Very good at medical techniques, which is one of the reasons she was assigned to Matt's and Chris' squad in earlier life. Always wears white. Normally shorts and a short sleeve shirt. Brown hair that goes down to her shoulders and blue eyes. 23 years old. Became a Jonin 7 years ago. Love Interest: Ashley pretty much loves everyone so it is hard to tell when she really likes someone.

Nieca- assistant to the Sixth Hokage. Graduated at the same time as Chris. Wears black capris and a red zip-up sweatshirt. Mid-back length, brown hair and green eyes. 21 years old. Became a Jonin 5 years ago. Love Interest???

Ikstaka- hated by Chris. Leads a squad of rouges traveling around and killing people. Wears black shorts that reach his shins and a dark blue turtle neck under his red vest. Also wears half a mask on the left side of his face. It despicts the devil and is black. Spiky, black hair and black eyes. 21 years old. Became a Jonin 8 years ago. Love Interest???

Houtacki- Been with Ikstaka the longest. Looks up to him somewhat. Good at card games because of his stare. White, high-collared coat and grey shorts. Medium length, brown hair and blue eyes. 14 years old. Became Chunin 2 years ago. Love Interest: Castrah (This is really pointless, but I put it in there anyway.)

Castrah- Been with Ikstaka second longest. Will do anything to live, even kill her own teamates. Wears lots of bracelets made of what looks like human finger bones but are they? Wears a sleeveless red shirt and black shorts. Red scarf and blood red hair. Only thing that isn't red are her eyes which are brown. 15 years old. Became a Chunin 4 years ago. Love Interest???

Ligtigh- newest recruit for Ikstaka's squad. Skilled with weaponary, especially involving blades. 11 knives attached to various parts of his body as well as a huge broad sword. Wears camoflage shorts with lots of pockets in which he probably stores more knives. Open, green coat with pockets on the inside over a green-brown shirt. Dies his hair green and has natural green eyes. 14 years old. Became a Chunin 2 years ago. Love Interest???

**Miscallaneous**

Shadow Eye- created when a Hyuuga and an Uchiha have a child. Has properties of both Sharingan and Byakugan, without the blind spot. Nearly extinct because of the Uchihas being all but dead. Turns purple when activated. Normally is in both eyes, but Chris' mutated for some reason. Some people even say he likes it better in just one eye. Children of people with the Shadow Eye will not always have the Shadow Eye themseleves.

ByakuSharingan- possesed only by Matt. Was made when he copied the Sharingan and the Byakugan seperately. Has properties of both. Is a little worse than the Shadow Eye, but Matt uses it better than those with the Shadow Eye. When activated, the outside of the eye turns red and it turns white the further inward it gets.

Boomerang Shuriken- boomerangs with points on the ends. Hole in the center like a normal shuriken. A rope or other tieing device may be inserted in the center to tie it to another and be thrown so that the rope wraps around opponent.

Three Pronged Shuriken- a shuriken with three prongs (duh). Two long points on the outside and a short point in the center. Normally stuck by the neck for interagation. Invented by Donn.

**Author's note: I included the miscallaneous just to understand a few new concepts I invented. If you still don't understand something just let me know and I'll add it to the list.**


	11. Chris' Squad vs Ligtigh

**Chapter 10: Chris' Squad vs. Ligtigh**

Jack, Jill, and Keith faced Ligtigh in the battlefield.

"You really think we can beat this guy without sensei?" Jill asked. "I mean, look what happened to Margo, Charles, and especially Kim."

"Yeah, well, this guy looks like a taijutsu type so if we use ninjutsu he should be helpless, right?" Jack suggested.

"Good thinking, Jack," Jill said.

"Oh, er… thanks," Jack said turning a little red.

"Quit conspiring and let's get this over with," Ligtigh said. Jack, Jill, and Keith took on fighting stances. Ligtigh grabbed the handle of his broad sword and charged at the Genin. When he reached them, he pulled the sword off his back and swung it at the young shinobi. All three of them jumped back and above the long blades reach. Ligtigh dropped the sword and grabbed a rusty dagger which he threw at Jill. Jack threw a shuriken and it hit the dagger in midair adverting it from Jill who pulled out her notebook. She flipped it open and performed some hand signs.

"Living Drawing Jutsu!" she shouted and a gorilla appeared in a poof of smoke. The gorilla charged at Ligtigh on all fours. Ligtigh pulled out a jewel encrusted dagger from its sheath and threw it at the gorilla. The gorilla knocked it aside with a swipe of its hand. Ligtigh grabbed his sword off the ground and slashed at the gorilla which dodged the attack and punched Ligtigh in the stomach causing him to fly across the field. _They're not coming at me head on,_ Ligtigh thought. _They fear my taijutsu because of this sword but it is not helping me with this gorilla. I have to kill the stupid thing._ Ligtigh charged at the gorilla and swung his sword. The gorilla jumped and grabbed the non-sharp end of the sword. The gorilla then proceeded to bend the end of the sword into a hook. Ligtigh pulled out a kunai instead of one of his precious knives and threw it into the gorilla's head. The gorilla vanished in a poof of smoke. Ligtigh dropped his deformed sword and ran at the Genin. _That girl is going to die! She ruined my sword!_ Ligtigh thought violently. He reached down and pulled a knife off his leg and threw it at Jack. Jack simply pulled out a kunai to block the attack, but the knife stuck to his kunai and then started to wrap around it.

"Throw it away!" Keith yelled. Jack hurled the entwined knives at Ligtigh. Ligtigh caught the kunai and ripped the other knife off of it. The knife returned to its normal shape and was slammed back into its sheath by Ligtigh. _My sword is useless! _Ligtigh thought. _How am I supposed to fight these punks without it? No. Wait. Not useless. Just… different._ Ligtigh picked up his now hooked sword and renewed his assault on the Genin. He reached out with the sword and caught it around Jack's leg. Keith did some hand signs.

"Acid Spitting Jutsu!" he shouted and spit acid at the sword. Ligtigh pulled the sword towards himself which pulled Jack with it making the acid now headed for Jack's other leg. Jill took action and ran in front of Jack doing hand signs.

"Flower Protection!" she shouted pulling a flower from her hair and throwing it at the acid. The flower's head grew extremely large and blocked the acid.

"Uh… thanks, Jill," Jack said.

"Any time," Ligtigh pulled the sword further towards him and tripped Jack. Then he pulled out the knife that had the strange marking on it and stabbed Jill with it just missing her heart. Jill shook uncontrollably as purple light spurted from the wound. She was lifted into the air and slammed into the ground making her spit up blood.

"That'll teach you, silly girl," Ligtigh said smirking.

"What did you do to her!?" Jack shouted as Jill started jerking in strange ways.

"Oh, I just stabbed her with a cursed knife and ruined the rest of her now short life," Ligtigh replied simply inspecting his nails. Jill had started jerking so uncontrollably that Keith had run up and was attempting to hold her down.

"Keith… kill me," Jill said.

"You, you, you… argh!" Jack screamed and kicked at Ligtigh's legs. Ligtigh fell over and Jack jumped on top of him. He began pounding Ligtigh's face with all the force he could muster breaking Ligtigh's nose and causing blood to come forth. Finally Jack pulled out a kunai and lunged at Ligtigh to strike him dead. Suddenly Jack's arm stopped. Ikstaka had run onto the battlefield and grabbed Jack's arm to protect Ligtigh.

"You won't take another one of my men! Not a chance!" Ikstaka shouted and threw Jack at a tree. Realizing that this battle had come to an end, Keith grabbed Jill and ran for Ashley. Ikstaka did as many medical jutsus on Ligtigh as he could before Chris came out and punched him hard enough to make him skip across the surface of the lake. As Ligtigh got up Jack got up and ran at him. The two engaged each other in battle as Keith ran into the enclosement. Ashley's squad was fighting Castrah.

"Ashley!" Keith called and leaned Jill against a wall. Ashley ran over to Jill and kneeled down. "Is there anything you can do?" Her hands glowed green and she probed Jill's body with them.

"Maybe. This will be extremely risky but seeing as she is going to die anyway…" Ashley trailed off and began working. Keith got up and began to leave. "No. Don't leave. I need someone to protect me while I work." Keith stood with his back to Ashley and watched the fight in front of him unfold. Donn, Courtney, and Logan had managed to surround Castrah. Logan and Donn ran at Castrah. Donn punched, Logan kicked, but Castrah jumped. Logan's and Donn's attacks came within inches of each other. They looked up to see Castrah hanging from the ceiling. Castrah dropped down and put her hands in the neutral pose. All her bracelets unlinked and connected to each other forming a long chain of bracelets. The bracelets wrapped tightly around Donn's neck twice and the considerable length left wrapped around her wrist leaving Donn suspended a few inches above the ground on a two foot leash. Logan grabbed his knife and slashed at the bracelet chain. His knife hit the chain and bounced off, not even leaving a scratch. Castrah punched Logan sending him flying into the wall of the enclosement. He collapsed and a Logan sized indent was visible in the wall. Courtney did some hand signs.

"Clone Jutsu!" she shouted. Castrah thought she saw about a hundred clones surround but there really were no clones at all. Castrah looked at Donn and saw he had fallen unconscious from lack of oxygen and the bracelet slipped off his neck like a snake letting him fall to the ground. _Two down, one to go,_ Castrah thought as the entire bracelet chain wrapped around her right arm. _Unfortunately the one is the hundred._ Some "clones" charged at Castrah from behind so she turned around. The real Courtney came up from behind her and stabbed her with a kunai and then ran away. Castrah grabbed the kunai from her back and yanked it out.

"Oh crap! An exploding tag!" she shouted and pulled her arm back in preparation to throw it. It was too late. Courtney activated the tag and it exploded. As the smoke from the explosion began to clear, Courtney walked back to wear Castrah was. _Did… did I kill her? _Courtney asked herself. Suddenly she felt pressure on her ankle and looked down to see Castrah's bracelet chain around her ankle. The chain tripped Courtney as Castrah emerged from the smoke with the top two layers of skin missing halfway up her right arm. Castrah did some hand signs. Her hand glowed white and she touched Courtney's forehead causing her to faint. _What have they been doing in the Leaf Village all this time?_ Castrah thought.

"Ice Style!" Castrah turned around in time to see ice flying at her legs and freeze them to the ground. Castrah looked around and saw Margo and Charles had picked up the fight. Castrah pulled out a kunai and pointed it at Donn.

"Don't move or I kill the boy!" she said.

"Where have I seen this before?" Charles asked sarcastically. "Wait. What's that over there?" He pointed behind Castrah.

"What?" Castrah asked and turned around as much as possible to see behind her. Charles threw a shurikan at Castrah's kunai and knocked it out of her hand.

"Ha! I didn't even think that would work!" Charles yelled in triumph. Castrah pulled out another kunai and stabbed it as hard as possible into the ice surrounding her legs. BOOM! An exploding tag had been attached to the kunai and exploded. When the smoke from the explosion cleared, they could see Castrah standing free of the ice but with the first layer of skin scraped off the bottom of her legs. "Are you insane!?" Charles asked incredulously.

"Maybe."

"Well at least she is in no condition to fight now," Margo pointed out.

"Nor are you," Castrah said barely standing up. "You were both injured and are almost out of chakra. I, however, have a fresh batch." _So we have to end this quick, if that is even possible,_ Charles thought.

"Margo, can you do that portal thing again?" Charles asked.

"Probably not," Margo replied. "Too much chakra." Margo smiled. "However… ok. When I do the jutsu get Castrah and yourself in."

"O…k…"

"Charge!" Charles and Margo ran at Castrah. Margo did his hand signs slowly and finished them a few feet away from Castrah.

"Dimensional Portal Jutsu!" Margo shouted. The vortex appeared behind Castrah. Charles punched her stomach and pushed her through the vortex. He then jumped in himself and was followed by Margo. They landed in an unending plain of purple and black floating everywhere. Nothing seemed to be subtle in this place and Charles became lightheaded.

"I feel… weird," Charles said holding his head.

"You get used to it," Margo said.

"What is this place?" Castrah asked looking around.

"The fourth dimension. Strange, eh?" Margo said and turned to Charles. "The terrain is whatever you want it to be. You can create anything you want here."

"Really?"

"Would I lie to you?" Margo asked. He turned away from Charles and raised his voice. "The terrain here is always changing and you never know what might be behind, in front of, above, beside, or below you. Should make things more interesting, I think," Margo winked at Charles.

"Yes. It should," Castrah said. A small bag appeared next to Margo, and he picked it up. He opened it and pulled out two small black spheres. He popped one in his mouth and tossed the other to Charles.

"What is it?" Charles asked.

"Don't you know? Food pills. Increase your chakra. Eat it," Margo whispered.

"How did that happen?" Castrah asked.

"This place is always changing. Didn't I tell you that?" Margo asked smiling. "Anything can happen here and often does." He pointed behind her. "Like that thing." A purple blob came out of the ground behind her. It took on a humanoid appearance and walked slowly towards Castrah. Castrah jumped back next to Margo.

"Well how do you kill it?" she asked him.

"Aren't we fighting each other?" Charles asked.

"Not if this thing will attack all of us. Will it?"

"Perhaps." Margo ran up to the blob. The blob's right arm turned into a spike and it lunged at Margo's stomach. Margo moved to the side and sliced at the blob with a kunai. The blob's left arm came off but it simply grew back. Margo jumped back before the blob could attack again. "Truce?"

"Truce," Castrah agreed and shook Margo's hand.

"Ok. We need to get an exploding tag in it," Margo said.

"Well that can't be so hard," Castrah said. She pulled out a kunai and wrapped an exploding tag around it.

"Yes it can," Margo said. Castrah seemed to ignore Margo and threw the kunai.

Where the kunai would have hit the blob, a hole formed, and the kunai passed right through. Then a second arm came out the side of the blob followed by a leg. A torso came after that and soon an entire new humanoid blob had formed. Castrah ran at one, grabbed an exploding tag from her pouch and plunged her arm into the blob. She tried to pull her arm out but couldn't. The blob advanced on her and a gaping hole appeared on the head.

"Shouldn't we do something?" Charles asked..

"No. This is all going according to my plan," Margo said. Charles looked at him to see he was smiling evilly. The blob enveloped her in its itself and inserted her head into its mouth-like hole in its head. _Only one way to live now…_ BOOM! Castrah had activated her exploding tag. The substance the blob was made of splattered everywhere. Castrah stood in the center of it all. Her left hand had been blown off and naught remained but a bloody stump.

"She is insane," Charles concluded. Margo ran forward at the remaining blob. He raised his arm and a wall came up from below splitting the blob in two. Then two more walls came up and the crushed the two halves of the blob on the middle wall. The walls sank back into the ground.

"Our fight continues," Castrah said ripping off part of her shirt and wrapping it over her stump.

"Shouldn't you just surrender?" Margo asked.

"No. My sensei taught me to always keep going," Castrah said. "No matter the cost I must achieve my objective." Margo ran at her doing hand signs. Two clones appeared next to him and they surrounded Castrah.

"You can't win," he said. "We're on my battlefield now." One of Margo threw some shuriken. Castrah side stepped to dodge some and her bracelet came alive and caught the rest. It then lashed out at one of the clones, which disappeared in a cloud of smoke and threw one of the shuriken into another clone who also disappeared in a cloud of smoke. The bracelet chain changed direction quickly and went for the remaining Margo's ankle. Margo jumped up to dodge the attack, but the bracelet changed direction again and grabbed him anyway. It lowered him to the ground and hung him upside down. Castrah faced Charles who threw a boomerang shurikan at her. She jumped to dodge the shurikan. The shurikan hit her in the back.

"What the heck? A boomerang?" she thought aloud. Charles did some hand signs.

"Piercing Darkness!" he shouted and pointed his finger at the bracelet. A small, needle-like shadow came from his finger and hit the bracelet chain cutting it in half. Margo fell and handspringed into the upright position. He jumped and brought his heel down on Castrah's head. Her face was slammed into the ground. Margo slammed his palm on the middle of Castrah's back snapping her backbone.

"AHHHH! AHHHH! OW! OW! AHHHH!" Castrah screamed in pain for about a minute before finally succumbing to a grimace. Margo squatted down next to her and turned her over. She was crying. "Good job."

"Your congratulating your enemy?" Margo asked.

"Well you aren't my enemy," Castrah said.

"We have just been fighting for who knows how long," Margo reasoned.

"You are my brother," Castrah said. "And I'm a Leaf Village ninja."

"And I am the Sixth Hokage," Margo said.

"Not funny, Margo."

"Wait. How do you know my name?"

"I knew who you were the moment I saw you," Castrah said. "You look so much like Mom." Margo turned red.

"I do not!"

"Yes you do. Anyways… I've been spying on Ikstaka for the Leaf Village for a few years now. Four years to be exact."

"Er… why?"

"He only killed one of the Leaf Village's best Chunin!"

"Who was that?" Margo asked even more confused.

"Julie! The only good ninja the Driebergen clan produced! And one of the best! Do you know nothing of your village's history? You're lucky I can't move otherwise I would smack you!" Castrah said.

"Well… I… uh… really don't hit the books too often…" Margo said anticipating the blow.

"WHY NOT!? You need to…" Castrah started, but she fell into a coughing fit which took her a while to lessen. "Margo…inside… Hokage… Sixth… Hokage…find…"

"No. No! Nooooo!" Margo screamed and cried over his long lost sister he had never known.

"Margo…" Charles whispered. "We should probably get back. The others might wonder where we are."

"All… alright," Margo said wiping a tear from his eyes. He grabbed Castrah's body and slung it over his shoulder. Then he did a series of hand signs. The portal appeared in front of them and they stepped through it into the enclosement.

"Well it looks like we have one less enemy to worry about," Keith said walking up to them. Margo walked past him and laid Castrah's body down next to where Houtacki's had been put. He carefully closed her eyelids and composed himself before standing.

"She wasn't our enemy," Margo said. "She was a Leaf Village spy… and my sister. And… I… I killed her!"

"Margo… you shouldn't blame yourself," Charles said. "You didn't know." Margo stood in silence looking at his sister's dead body. "How's Jill?" Charles asked turning to Keith.

"Well Ashley's still working. She said the curse on that knife is pretty significant and may take some time to get rid of," Keith said and began to walk away.

"Wait… where are you going?" Charles called after him.

"Jack is gonna need some help," Keith replied.

**Author's note: Well there you have it. The battle between Jack, Jill, Keith and Ligtigh or should I say Charles, Margo and Castrah? If you think about it Castrah lost a lot of blood. She lost the skin layer on her legs and right arm plus got her left hand blown off. That girl is prone to injury.**


	12. Genin vs Chunin

**Chapter 11: Genin vs. Chunin**

"Ahhh!" Jack yelled as punched at Ligtigh. Ligtigh sidestepped the punch. Jack kicked at Ligtigh's head, but he ducked. He punched again. This time Ligtigh grabbed Jack's fist and pushed it into Jack's face.

"Face it kid, you're way out of my league," Ligtigh said. "And why did you get all mad when I stabbed that girl? You got a thing for her or something?"

"No! She's just my teammate, ok!" Jack replied angrily and punched at Ligtigh's stomach. Ligtigh jumped over his head and thrust his palm into Jack's back causing him to stumble forward and fall on his face. Ligtigh sighed.

"This will be fun," Ligtigh said. "You're terrible." Jack got up and faced Ligtigh.

"I am not terrible!" Jack screamed and whipped out a kunai. He stabbed at Ligtigh's heart. Ligtigh took a step back and took a knife off his leg. He tapped it against Jack's knife. Jack's knife grew extremely hot and he was forced to drop it. Ligtigh grabbed his sword off the ground and swung it at Jack. Jack jumped and dodged the blade. Ligtigh pushed his free hand forward, and Jack flew across the battlefield. Ligtigh started taking knives and daggers and throwing them into the ground around him in a circle. Finally he reached to the sheath with the strange symbol. He felt nothing. _What th- oh yeah, _ Ligtigh thought. He looked around and saw the knife he was looking for had been carelessly tossed aside about 20 feet away from him. He started to run for it and Jack did the same. All of a sudden a shadow engulfed their battlefield. They looked up to see a giant wave of water coming towards them.

"Oh no," Jack murmured. He stabbed a kunai into the ground as the wave hit him and held on. Ligtigh was swept away but managed to grab the mound of dirt the enclosement was under. The wave stopped soon and Jack and Ligtigh continued their run for the knife. Jack reached it much before Ligtigh. "You want this?" he taunted. "Well you can't have it." He put it in his leg pouch.

"We will see about that," Ligtigh muttered doing a series of hand signs. "Ghost swords!" Three swords that looked like they were made of mist appeared in front of Ligtigh. He charged at Jack, and the swords followed. Jack did a series of hand signs. Ligtigh and his misty swords reached him.

"Shadow Wall!" Jack shouted. Everything within fifteen feet of Jack suddenly became very bright as the shadows in them seemed to be pulled away and condensed into a purple-black wall around Jack. Ligtigh and his swords started beating away at the wall. Inside Jack felt every blow, and his chakra was depleted in small chunks. _I can't keep this up,_ Jack thought. He did some hand signs. "Shadow Repulse." The shadows around Jack flew outwards back to their normal positions knocking Ligtigh back, but the swords stayed in place. Ligtigh put his hands in the neutral pose, and two of the swords disappeared. The remaining sword stabbed Jack right through his stomach. Jack fell down to his knees with a grimace upon his face and spit a small amount of blood from his mouth.

"How does it feel?" Ligtigh asked getting up.

"I don't," Jack replied as Ligtigh walked towards him.

"Good. Now give me my knife."

"If you wanted it so bad, why did you throw it away?" Jack asked determined to resist.

"_I _didn't. That other kid did after I stabbed your little girlfriend," Ligtigh said smiling.

"She is not my girlfriend!" Jack yelled. Ligtigh reached for Jack's pouch. Jack feebly swatted at Ligtigh's hand, but Ligtigh still reached into the pouch. He felt around and grabbed the handle of his knife. He pulled it out and kicked Jack before walking into the circle of knives. He did a lengthy series of hand signs and cut himself on all his limbs with the knife. A purple shroud appeared around him. As suddenly as it had appeared it vanished and the cuts on him healed. Ligtigh put his hands in the neutral pose, and the sword in Jack came out and vanished. The hole that traveled through Jack's stomach healed before even a single drop of blood was spilled. Ligtigh picked up his sword off the ground as Jack got up. Ligtigh backed up a little to pick up a few knives. Jack threw some shuriken at Ligtigh. Ligtigh lifted his sword so the shuriken bounced off the flat of the blade. Ligtigh ran up to Jack and swung his sword at him so he got hit by the flat of it. Jack was thrown off his feet to the side. _How… how did he move so fast? _Jack asked himself. _He swings that sword like a knife now. He wasn't doing that before._ Ligtigh grabbed the hooked end of his sword and bent it back to being straight. "How did you do that?"

"Ikstaka put a jutsu on my limbs to restrain their movements," Ligtigh explained. "Now that I have dispelled that jutsu though, I can use the muscles I worked so hard to obtain." Jack got up and took on his fighting stance.

"It won't help you!"

"To the contrary," Ligtigh said. He swung his sword upward leaving a cut only penetrating the first layer of skin from Jack's right hip to his left shoulder.

"Ahhh!" He grabbed his chest and fell to his knees as blood began to come out of the wound.

"You will have to learn to deal with dying at age ten," Ligtigh said. "Just face the facts. You suck at life. You suck at being a ninja. You lose."

"Shutup," Jack looked at Ligtigh straight in the eyes. "I worked hard to gain the respect and admiration I have and I am not gonna lose it now. So you can forget about killing me because I am not going to lose to you!" Jack jumped to his feet and punched at Ligtigh's face. Ligtigh barely got his sword up in time to block it. There was a low ringing noise as Jack's fist connected with the metal. He followed up with a kick which connected with Ligtigh's legs. Ligtigh lowered his sword and stabbed at Jack who jumped above it. He brought his fist down on Ligtigh's and landed on his sword which went down with its owner. Jack pulled out a kunai and prepared to strike Ligtigh down, but Ligtigh flipped him over himself with his sword. Ligtigh got up as Jack did some hand signs from his place on the ground. "Shadow Pick Jutsu." His shadow grabbed Ligtigh's ankles. Ligtigh slashed at the shadow's hands with his sword and ended up cutting the tops of his own feet. Jack got up and did some more hand signs. Two clones appeared next to him and they walked to Ligtigh's sides. They all threw shuriken. Ligtigh managed to block a few, but he was hit in his left side with two and his right with one. Ligtigh gritted his teeth as they hit.

"Coward!" Ligtigh shouted. "You sit there and throw shuriken at me. Come here and fight me like a man!"

"Why should I? I have you right where I want you," Jack said.

"Because it would… um…" Ligtigh trailed off.

"Exactly." Jack said. Ligtigh threw his sword at the Jack directly in front of him. Jack barely ducked in time to let the sword fly over his head and into a tree. Ligtigh did a series of hand signs.

"Ghost swords!" Three misty sword appeared around Ligtigh. Two of them went out to the sides and impaled the clones which disappeared in clouds of smoke. The other slashed at the shadowy hands still retaining him. Jack's face reddened as the tops of his hands grew a cut which healed as quickly as it had come. The shadow released Ligtigh who dispelled the swords, and it returned to its owner. Ligtigh ran past Jack and yanked his sword out of the tree. He ran back at Jack and stabbed at him with the sword. Jack backed up just enough to dodge the attack. Ligtigh attacked again with a slash. Jack backed up again. Ligtigh pulled out a shuriken and threw it. It hit Jack square in the chest. He fell down as Ligtigh slashed again which caused Ligtigh to miss. Jack pulled out a kunai and stabbed at Ligtigh's foot. Ligtigh moved his foot, and Jack stabbed the ground again. Ligtigh brought his foot up and kicked Jack in the side of his head. A tooth and some blood came out of his head. _ Good. That one was loose anyway,_ Jack thought as he felt around his mouth with his tongue. He grabbed his tooth off the ground and kicked Ligtigh in the chin. He put the tooth in his pocket as Ligtigh stumbled backwards. Ligtigh began slashing, cutting and stabbing as fast as he could, and Jack either moved back or to the side. This went on for a little bit until Jack felt a tree at his back. Ligtigh stabbed at Jack who jumped. The sword got stuck in the tree, and Jack landed on it. Jack kicked at Ligtigh's head, but Ligtigh grabbed his foot. Ligtigh threw him over his head and yanked on his sword. To his surprise, it didn't budge.

"It doesn't look like your muscles are helping you now, does it?" Jack's voice came from behind Ligtigh.

"Just shutup. You are going to lose anyway," Ligtigh responded as he tugged on the sword again. Jack grabbed two shuriken and threw them at the back of Ligtigh's legs. Ligtigh's hands tightened around the handle of the sword, and he lowered himself to his knees. _How did this happen? I am smarter than this, _Ligtigh thought. _I should of seen this coming._ Jack got up and walked over to Ligtigh.

"You are the one who will die here," he said. He lifted his foot and put it on the handle where Ligtigh's hands remained plastered to the metal. He ground his foot into the flesh. Ligtigh's breath quickened, and his knuckles whitened. "You will pay for what you did to Jill."

"You do like her… I know you do," Ligtigh said. "It's so… obvious."

"Well… so what if I do!" Jack said the slightest bit angry.

"It's not bad. It just means your growing up. I remember my first crush like it was yesterday…" Ligtigh trailed off.

"I think we are a little off topic," Jack commented. Suddenly Ligtigh stood up and kicked Jack in the chest. Jack was knocked over so his foot came off Ligtigh's hands. Ligtigh yanked the two shuriken out of his legs and tossed them carelessly at Jack missing him by a foot. He managed to yank his sword out of the tree and brought it down towards Jack. Jack pulled out a kunai and stopped the blade from reaching him momentarily. However the blade lowered slowly towards Jack who was not strong enough to hold it off. Unknown to Ligtigh, Keith jogged out onto the field and saw Jack struggling against Ligtigh. He started running at them and jumped with his leg extended. Ligtigh was knocked back and rolled a small amount across the ground.

"I learned that move by watching old Chunin exam clips," Keith said to Jack.

"Leave this fight alone," Jack said not looking at Keith.

"Come again?"

"Let me fight this guy by myself," Jack said. "That is all I desire."

"Why would you turn down extra manpower?" Keith asked befuddled.

"I want to fight him myself," Jack reiterated. "So go back into the enclosement and watch."

"I… ok," Keith said. "You sure?"

"Positive."

"Ok." Keith jogged back towards the enclosement.

"You shouldn't have turned him down," Ligtigh said. "because you are going to need all the help you can get." Ligtigh put his sword on his back and pulled out two knives. He jumped the distance between him and Jack. Jack pulled out a second kunai as Ligtigh slashed at him with the knives. He blocked with his kunai knives and the two exchanged blows for a while. "Getting tired yet?"

"No," Jack said struggling against Ligtigh's knives.

"Well I suppose it depends on your training… or lack there of," Ligtigh said. "I was trained for strength, not endurance. You are probably pretty balanced between those two categories."

"I'll still beat you!" Jack said. He aimed a kick at Ligtigh's legs. Ligtigh took the moment to stab Jack in his left arm. Jack's attack connected with its target knocking Ligtigh off balance and causing him to fall over. Jack looked at the knife at pulled it out of his arm making sure it wasn't cursed. He threw it at the prone Ligtigh, but it hit the sword on his back. Ligtigh got up and whipped the sword off his back. Continuing in that motion, he slashed at Jack who barely had time to jump back. Ligtigh ran up to him and head butted him in the stomach. Jack was sent flying backwards, and he bounced off the ground before skidding to a halt. Ligtigh followed up by jumping above Jack and pointing his sword at Jack so that when he fell he would impale Jack. Jack rolled to the side when Ligtigh was a few feet above him so the sword stabbed his sword stabbed the ground. Ligtigh pulled the sword out of the dirt and brought it down on Jack. Jack rolled, but the blade still managed to catch his back and make a cut across it. Ligtigh ran over to where Jack lay and place his foot on Jack's chest.

"I told you you would lose," Ligtigh said. He raised his sword and brought it down on Jack's chest.


	13. Shadow Eye Unleashed!

**Chapter 12: Shadow Eye Unleashed!**

As Ligtigh effortlessly pulled the blade out of Jack's chest, Jack screamed. It was the worst pain he had ever felt, and he wasn't dead yet. Blood spurted from the wound and oozed out of the one on his back. _No. No, it can't end now. I haven't avenged Jill yet, _Jack thought. Ligtigh turned away from Jack and started to walk away.

"Don't even… think about it," Jack said with great difficulty. Ligtigh turned away. "This fight isn't over."

"Oh, I think it is," Ligtigh said starting to turn back around.

"Do I… look dead to you?" Jack asked and managed to get to his knees.

"You're as good as dead," Ligtigh responded bewildered at Jack's determination. Jack struggled to stand up and succeeded. "Fine. I'll slay you where you stand!" Ligtigh grabbed his sword off his back and ran at Jack. He stabbed at him, but Jack simply sidestepped the attack. _Why is he moving so slow now?_ Jack asked himself. _How is he moving so fast?_ Ligtigh thought. _Especially in his condition._ Ligtigh punched at Jack with his free arm, but Jack grabbed his fist and kicked at Ligtigh's head. Ligtigh was knocked to the ground. Jack grabbed at his wound and fell to a knee. Ligtigh looked at Jack. _What… what happened to his eyes?_ Ligtigh thought. Jack's irises had turned a dark purple, and the pupil had dilated to maximum size. _It can't be…_

"What are you just lying there for?" Jack asked.

"Kid, what's your last name?" Ligtigh asked, ignoring Jack's question.

"Er…Erstonep," Jack replied. _Hehe… well crap,_ Ligtigh thought. _If I had known that I _would _have killed him._ Jack and Ligtigh both got up. Ligtigh placed his sword on his back and kicked at Jack's legs. Jack jumped over the attack and kicked Ligtigh in the head while he was still in the air. Ligtigh was sent back a few feet. Jack did a series of hand signs. "Shadow Armor!" Once more, all the shadows near him seemed to be sucked away to make the armor that now surrounded him. Ligtigh got up quickly and pulled out two knives. He ran up to Jack and slashed at both Jack's right and left. Jack didn't even move, and the knives bounced off the armor. Jack stabbed Ligtigh three times with the shadowy sword in his right hand and kept the sword in Ligtigh's chest. Ligtigh stepped backwards.

"Good fight, kid. Good fight," he said as he fell over dead. The shadow armor around Jack dissipated and he fell over.

---------------------------------

Chris ran towards the lake he had punched Ikstaka into. _That lying piece of dirt! _He thought as he reached the edge of the water. Focusing his chakra in his feet, he stepped onto the water and walked around cautiously looking for Ikstaka. He jumped back as Ikstaka came up from under him.

"Well, at least it seems like you've gotten better," Ikstaka commented. "You wouldn't of dodged that last time."

"At least I wasn't fighting like a coward," Chris countered.

"I- I suppose you have a point." Chris pulled out a kunai from his pouch and slashed at Ikstaka who pulled out one to defend himself. "What have we here?" Ikstaka looked at Chris' Shadow Eye. "I don't remember that."

"That's because I got it a week later," Chris replied.

"Cruel irony," Ikstaka remarked.

"I'll teach you about cruel irony," Chris snapped.

"A bit touchy around that area, aren't we?" Ikstaka said.

"Only because you are a standing ovation to cruel irony."

---------------------------------

_13 years ago…_

_Chris walked out the academy doors, alone as usual. Other students rushed past him, laughing and talking. Hi sighed and tilted his head to the sky._

"_Hey!" Chris just kept walking. No one could possibly be shouting for him. "Hey! Um… Chris!" Chris turned his head to see the exchange student from the Sound Village running towards him. He had arrived just today._

"_What… Ikstaka?" Chris asked._

"_I need a friend," Ikstaka told him. "No one seems to want to be friends with a Sound Village exchange student."_

"_Oh. Well, welcome to the Leaf Village," Chris said extending his right hand. He pulled it back quickly and extended his left hand instead. Ikstaka shook it._

"_Something wrong with your right hand?" Ikstaka asked. Chris lifted his right to reveal a long scar on it._

"_Hurts to shake it," he explained._

---------------------------------

Chris kicked out Ikstaka's legs and jumped on him. They both stabbed, and they both grabbed each other's kunai. Ikstaka put his feet on Chris' chest and pushed. Chris didn't budge.

"A few years ago we wouldn't have been able to do this on water," Ikstaka noted.

"Why are we on water?" Chris asked.

"Because your cub is fighting mine on land," Ikstaka replied. Chris looked over to see Jack fighting Ligtigh. Ikstaka sunk beneath the water and came back up punching Chris in the chin. Chris fell backwards as Ikstaka did some hand signs. "Giant Wave Jutsu!" A giant wave appeared behind Ikstaka and advanced towards Chris.

"Oh snap," Chris said and dived beneath the water before the wave hit him. The wave continued to where Jack and Ligtigh were fighting and crashed into the ground. Chris climbed out of the water like he was climbing a ledge. "You can't trick me anymore."

"Well you don't have anyone helping you this time," Ikstaka said.

"Because one of them is healing, one is just lazy, and the other is dead!" Chris listed off. "And all of it is your fault!"

"Oh please. Barely any of it-"

"Yeah. Well you killed her! She was one of the first people who acknowledged me, and you killed her!"

---------------------------------

_Chris sat by himself at lunch as usual. He looked down as he chewed his sandwich._

"_Is it okay if I sit here?" someone asked._

"_Oh, uh… sure," Chris said looking up to see one of the kunoichi from the academy. _Oh snap. What is her name?_ he thought to himself. "Er… why are you sitting here?"_

"_Well I saw you didn't have anyone sitting with you so I decided I would," the girl told him. "And from what I can see, you're pretty cool."_

"_Uh, thanks," Chris said scrounging his brain for her name. "Julie."_

---------------------------------

"She had it coming!" Ikstaka shouted.

"She never did anything to you! So why do you always say that?" Chris asked.

"Because… because, uh… she wasn't good enough! She would have gotten killed anyway!" Ikstaka tried to reason.

"Yeah right. She was good. Really good. Maybe even better than I was," Chris countered. "Come to think of it, you've barely progressed your skills." Ikstaka flinched at these words.

"Really!?" he shouted and spun around kicking at Chris' head. Chris ducked and brought his foot up into Ikstaka's chin. Ikstaka handspringed out of the fall and thrust his palm at Chris who diverted it. He then kneed Ikstaka in his chin. Ikstaka backed off. "Can you do anything but hit my chin?"

"Maybe," Chris answered doing some hand signs. "Water Sword Jutsu!" A sword formed out of the water below into his hand. He jumped, front flipped, and brought his sword down on Ikstaka. Ikstaka spun around Chris and slashed his back with a kunai. Ikstaka smirked, but his smile faded when Chris' body became water that splashed into the lake below.

"Where are you?" Ikstaka asked. "Why do you hide like a chicken?"

"That is a ninja's game, is it not? We train to be stealthy," Chris' voice came from Ikstaka's right on the first sentence and from his left with the second.

"There is no way to win a battle like that," Ikstaka said.

"Is there?" A hand popped out of the water and grabbed Ikstaka's ankle. _Headhunter?_ _In the water?_ He was pulled below the surface, and the water around him froze. His head was still above the water. Chris appeared before him out of nowhere.

"But… how?"

"You were very distracted by my clones words," Chris explained.

"And the water clone?" Ikstaka inquired further.

"Simple. When I dove beneath the water and now I have said too much."

"And now what?"

"Hmm… I could kill you now… or I could let you go and see what else you have," Chris thought aloud. "I think I will go with the latter. Not nearly enough has happened to avenge someone who brought me so much."

---------------------------------

_Chris looked up from his lunch to see Julie sit down next to him._

"_Julie, you really shouldn't trouble yourself. Go sit with your friends," Chris said._

"_You are my friend," she countered._

"_You should still sit with your other friends. I mean, you probably get grief for sitting here with me."_

"_I don't care. You need a friend," Julie explained. "Whatever happened to that exchange student… uh, Ikstaka?"_

"_Oh. Him. He used me as a sort of stepping stone to get more popular friends," Chris told her. "He still talks to me, but when they come, I don't exist anymore._

---------------------------------

"Oh please. Is that what life is about for you now? Do you spend days thinking of how you will kill me and how she will finally be avenged? Is that the only purpose in your training now? If you beat me, will you stop training? Will your purpose in life be achieved?"

"Pretty much," Chris answered as the ice around Ikstaka melted. Ikstaka popped up and front flipped to bring his leg around at Chris' head. Chris tilted his head to the right so that Ikstaka's foot hit his shoulder. Chris then grabbed Ikstaka's foot, which caused him to hang in front of him. Ikstaka put his hands on the water and used his free foot to kick Chris in the chin. Chris released Ikstaka's foot and Ikstaka sprang up. He whipped out a kunai, dashed forward, and stabbed Chris. Ikstaka smiled, but this time Chris exploded in a poof of smoke, leaving only a log behind. "Here's your receipt!" Chris yelled and his foot slammed into the left side of Ikstaka's head, knocking him over and under the surface of the water.

"Receipt?" Ikstaka asked climbing out of the water.

"You've been logged," Chris replied and smiled.

"Find something amusing?"

"Obviously."

"And what would that be?"

"That you've fallen for so many of my traps. I guess attacking random merchants and Genin really causes some people to loose their edge," Chris commented. Ikstaka cringed. He charged at Chris who kicked water up into his eyes.

"Ahhh!" Ikstaka cried. "That was… such a cheap shot!"

"Oh well. Now… why has half our battle been talk and the other half been three second engagements and petty jutsus?" Chris wondered aloud. "Can't we just stop talking for a while and just fight?"

"Sure. Why not." Ikstaka began performing hand signs. "Hidden Mist Jutsu!" Mist rose off the water and covered the lake. _Where did he pick up that one?_ Chris wondered. Chris turned and punched. His attack connected with something solid which also groaned. "Ok. How did you-"

"You broke your promise already!" Chris kicked at the same spot and was satisfied with a thump and a splash. Chris performed a series of hand signs. Darkness befell the lake making it impossible to see with the naked eye. Sound seemed to stop, too. All you could hear was the sound of Chris and Ikstaka breathing.

"Crap."

"So much for us shutting up, eh?"

"The only way I can beat you right now is if I can hear you," Ikstaka said.

"Maybe I should stop talking then," Chris suggested. "I can see clearly. The rain has gone."

"May I ask how?"

"Yes."

"How?"

"Well I am not going to tell you that." Ikstaka sighed and then smirked. He took a few steps forward and broke into a run. He heard a soft thump in front of him and tripped shortly after. From what he felt, he seemed to have tripped over a kunai. He got back up and heard a whistling sound. Seconds after that, shuriken thudded into his back. A kunai was placed to his throat, and the darkness faded.

"How?"

"You ask a lot of questions from a disadvantageous position."

"Well, I did my job." Ikstaka sighed and closed his eyes. "My purpose in life has been fulfilled."

"What did you do?" Chris pushed the kunai into Ikstaka's throat.

"I-I… spied on the Leaf Village. On all of them actually, but the Leaf Village was the big fish."

"Orochimaru? You spied for Orochimaru!? Congratulations. You have advanced to a new level of dirt!"

"And I killed one, too. That is what he said to do if I was followed or chased. Kill 'em. Too bad I only got one…" Chris pushed the kunai harder into Ikstaka's throat. He started to bleed.

"You don't realize why I want revenge, do you?"

"I killed your teammate, your friend."

"More than that. You don't realize… I… I loved her."

---------------------------------

_Chris walked down the hallway of the ninja academy surrounded by talking students. His eyes scanned in front of him, and he saw Julie walking the other way with some of her friends. Chris' arm leapt out almost involuntarily and grabbed Julie's shoulder._

"_Julie, I… um… just, uh- oh, never mind," Chris said, letting go of Julie's shoulder and walked away quickly down the hall._

"_What the heck was that about?" asked Julie's friend Nieca._

"_I… don't know. He wanted to say or ask me something, I think," Julie replied._

"_Weird. Why do you even sit with him at lunch?" asked another of Julie's friends, Rachel._

"_You wouldn't understand…" she responded._

"_You _like_ him, don't you?" Nieca asked._

"_No… it's just that he's lonely. No one likes him and he needs a friend," Julie said. She sighed._

---------------------------------

"_Chris?" Julie walked up behind him on a cliff overlooking the Leaf Village._

"_Yes?"_

"_What were you doing earlier? In the hallway?"_

"_I don't know. I just… suddenly… felt the impulse to-" Chris stopped abruptly. He was silent._

"_Chris? Are you okay?" There was a puff of smoke and Chris vanished._

---------------------------------

"_Hahahahahahaha!" the other student's laughed at Chris. "Chris likes Julie!" they yelled in a mocking singsong. But one stood out in particular, Ikstaka. Chris was tired of this. He rushed forward, grabbed Ikstaka by the collar, and shoved him into a wall._

"_Shutup. All of you." Chris' voice sounded dangerous. No one moved, no one spoke. Ikstaka's breathing became heavy._

"_Chris… put me down… please?" At that moment, a door opened, and one of the sensei stepped out._

"_What is going on?" he asked as he stepped through the crowd to the center. "Chris, put him down." Chris let Ikstaka slide down the wall to the ground and shoved his way through the crowd._

---------------------------------

"_And you'll never do it again?"_

"_Yes, sensei."_

"_Good. You're excused." Chris left the Head Sensei's office. As soon as he stepped out of the office, Ikstaka got up from a chair and head into the office. Chris opened another door and was face to face with Julie. His heart skipped a beat._

"_Oh. Hi, Julie."_

"_Look, Chris, I'm really sorry you're in trouble because of me. I-"_

"_Don't worry about it," Chris said and skirted around Julie. "Shouldn't you be in class?"_

"_It's the end of the day. Classes ended ten minutes ago." Chris' body stiffened._

"_You…you… you stayed behind to apologize to me? For something that was never your fault?" Chris asked her. _She stayed behind for me!_ Chris thought to himself._

"_I stayed behind because you're lonely and… because…" Chris turned sideways, and Julie ran up to him. She embraced him in a hug and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Then she ran off through the school doors. Chris touched his cheek._

"_Hey! Wait a minute!" Chris yelled and ran after her, but he couldn't find her…_

---------------------------------

_Over the course of the next few days, Chris tried to find Julie, but he was unsuccessful. She didn't come to the ninja academy for the remaining month and a half of classes._

---------------------------------

"What a pity," Ikstaka said. "So my unfounded accusations I made as a child were correct…"

"Yes," Chris said. "And what's more… I think she loved me back."

"You just keep thinking that. It will only increase your pain."

"So are you ready to die?"

"Death has chased me all these years and finally his steed has caught up to me. I can't say the same for its rider though…" Ikstaka elbowed Chris in the stomach and dived beneath the water, surfacing about ten feet away.

"Cheap shot…" Chris said. "And as my sensei taught me, 'You should never be in a position where only a cheap shot can get you out.' But that was his opinion.

"Doesn't matter. The fight goes on," Ikstaka said. "And I seem to recall you using a cheap shot."

"Hehe… yes, and the fight goes on, the beat goes on, my hatred goes on."


	14. The Original Shadow

**Chapter 13: The Original Shadow**

"Would you quit yapping about 'your hatred' and 'how you must avenge her' and other crap? It's annoying," Ikstaka said. There was a short moment of silence.

"No," Chris replied. He smiled and then dashed forward at Ikstaka. He punched at Ikstaka who tried to move but couldn't. Ikstaka looked down to see Chris' shadow had a hold of his legs. He looked back up and was met by Chris' fist. Chris then kicked Ikstaka in his chest. Ikstaka grabbed Chris' leg and pulled out a kunai, intending to stab Chris' leg. Chris' shadow came further up Ikstaka to hold his arm where it was. Ikstaka sighed, bowed his head, and shook it. "Problem?"

"I can only move my left arm."

"So? Itachi Uchiha fought with one of his arms in his coat. Orochimaru had both his arms disabled and fought the other two Sanin with only his legs. Heck, I had a friend who could be beat me when I was young, and he was in a wheelchair!"

"How could he beat you in a wheelchair?"

"He used chakra to move his wheel the way he wanted. He was pretty fast and a master of ninjutsu. Last I heard, he was teaching kids with disabled limbs how to fight, but I digress. And I just wasted chakra." The shadows slipped off Ikstaka as Chris punched Ikstaka in the forehead. Ikstaka was sent flying back and rolled out onto a knee. He quickly performed a lengthy series of hand signs.

"Water Dragon Jutsu!" he shouted. The water behind him rose up into the shape of an armless, wingless dragon. It lunged at Chris with its dripping jaws open wide. Chris performed a few hand signs.

"Fire Style: Heat Wave!" A wave of flames came out of him and hit the water dragon. The flames were doused and the dragon evaporated. Ikstaka performed another series of hand signs. Watery spikes came out of the water below Chris who jumped up. The spikes continued to follow him so he put his hands in the neutral pose. A circle of chakra appeared beneath him, and the rheumy spikes hit it unable to go through. Chris quickly jumped off the chakra circle onto the water, and it dissipated. Chris put his hands back in the neutral pose, and balls of water came out of the lake. They flew at Ikstaka at an incredible velocity. Nonetheless, Ikstaka dodged the attack, flipping, turning, jumping, and ducking. Chris began doing hand signs. "Water Shark Bomb Jutsu!" he shouted. The water in front of him sprang forward, taking on the shape of a shark. The shark hit Ikstaka head on and knocked him into the cliff the waterfall was coming off. Chris threw a couple shuriken, and they hit around Ikstaka, pinning him to the rock face.

"So will you use it to finish me?" Ikstaka asked.

"Use what?"

"The technique. The one you were working on three years ago."

_Julie kicked at Ikstaka, but he grabbed her foot and flung her into a tree. Chris punched at Ikstaka from behind and hit him in the back of the head. Ikstaka turned and kicked Chris in the stomach, sending him flying. Ikstaka jumped onto the branch Julie was on and did some hand signs._

"_Organ Ripping Jutsu!" Ikstaka shouted as she got up. He plunged his hands at her hips. The went right through her flesh, and he ripped out her stomach. This continued while he ripped out her lungs, her liver, her pancreas, her gall bladder, her spleen, her brain, and, lastly, her heart. This all happened in less than eight seconds. When Chris saw this he yelled._

"_NOOOOOOOO!!!" He jumped from tree to tree towards Ikstaka and Julie's bloody and mangled body. He took three kunai to the chest, but made it to Ikstaka anyway. He punched Ikstaka into the branch repeatedly until Ikstaka was bleeding severely from his nose and mouth. Finally he stopped and did a few hand signs. "Shadow Ball Jutsu!" He held out his hand, and a purple ball appeared in it. He thrust his hand at Ikstaka's chest, but the ball disappeared as he did. His palm slammed into Ikstaka's chest causing him to spit blood up. "Come on!" Kunai flew out of nowhere hitting Chris in the back. He turned around to see a dozen Sound Village ninja standing in the trees. He took one last look at Ikstaka, scooped up Julies organs, slung her across his shoulder, and fled with Ashley and Matt._

"_That_ technique. That is a good idea." Chris did but four hand signs. Shadows all around were drawn to his hand and a dark purple ball appeared there. He ran straight at Ikstaka and jabbed at his stomach. Somehow Ikstaka broke free of the shuriken holding him down and flipped up the cliff. Chris' attack hit the cliff face and the rock began to shatter. Ikstaka jumped down at Chris and punched him in the top of the head. Chris took a step back and applied his knee to Ikstaka's face. Ikstaka crashed into the water below and sunk beneath the surface. Shuriken flew up from below at Chris. One got him in the shin, but he managed to avoid the rest. He did a couple hand signs. "Shadow Shuriken!" He spun around and manifold shuriken made of dark purple flew out of him in all directions. From below a flash of light spurt through the water. Chris put his hand over the water. After a few seconds, Ikstaka rose out, impaled by a few of the shadowy shuriken. Chris pulled out the shuriken in his shin and threw it into Ikstaka. "Pitiful. Just pitiful."

"Well you've gotten a lot better and have a lot more jutsus than you did before!" Ikstaka reasoned.

"And you haven't." Suddenly a fist came from below and hit Chris in the chin, knocking him over. The Ikstaka with the shuriken in him disappeared in smoke, and the real Ikstaka leapt on top of Chris. He began punching and pulled out kunai and shuriken, stabbing them into Chris violently. Chris tried to block, but the attack had been executed too quickly. By the time he had gotten Ikstaka off him, four kunai and two shuriken stuck out of him. Chris pulled one of the kunai out and let the blood flow freely. He then slathered his hand in it and performed a few hand signs. His breathing became heavy and his eyes turned red with blood lust. He ran at Ikstaka and punched at hum. Ikstaka grabbed the fist but was sent flying back anyway._ That was… such a powerful blow. What did he do?_ Ikstaka wondered. Chris ran forward and punched again. Ikstaka moved to the left of Chris' punch. When Chris' punch connected with the cliff face, it began to crack. Ikstaka jumped and threw two kunai into Chris. When they hit Chris, Ikstaka noticed a thin red aura surrounded Chris. Chris yelled and jumped at Ikstaka. He brought his leg down on Ikstaka's head, sending him spiraling downwards into the water. After Chris landed, Ikstaka came up behind him and kicked him square in the back. _Hmm… his senses have dulled, but the more damage I do the stronger he seems to get… _Chris back flipped from his position behind Ikstaka, grabbed Ikstaka's head, and slammed it into his knee. Blood spurted from Ikstaka's nose and mouth. He took out Chris' legs and got up, taking a few steps back. Ikstaka wiped some blood off his face and performed a series of hand signs.

"Summoning Jutsu!" he shouted and put his palm over the water. There was a giant poof of smoke, and after it cleared, Chris saw a dog. However, it wasn't a normal dog. It was covered in scales and had gills on its neck. The dog jumped at Chris who swatted it away into the cliff as if it were a small rock.

"The dog is weak," Chris grunted. Ikstaka looked at his amphibious dog which had so easily slaughtered. _That didn't work,_ he thought. While Ikstaka was turned, Chris punched him in the chin sending him up into the air. Then he jumped up behind and his arms tightly around Ikstaka's chest. "Primary Lotus!" Chris yelled as they began spinning downwards. This would have been an extremely effective move had they been fighting on land, but as it was, they were over water so they just crashed into the water and went about ten feet below the surface. Chris kicked off Ikstaka, propelling him upwards and Ikstaka downwards. Ikstaka hurriedly swam upwards and gasped for air when he reached the surface. Unfortunately for him, Chris grabbed his throat almost as soon as he got above the surface and then kicked him into the cliff. The cliff, having take quite a bit of punishment already, began to fall down (again). Chris jumped, grabbed a falling boulder, and threw it at Ikstaka. Ikstaka jumped out of the way and threw three shuriken into Chris' arms. The aura around Chris became brighter and more distinct. Ikstaka did a series of hand signs as he jumped back down to the water.

"Water Style: Assault Jutsu!" Ikstaka shouted. The water around Chris began jumping up and hitting him with incredible force. Each time he was hit though, his aura grew brighter and brighter until it shone as if he was enveloped in flame. Once it shone this bright, the water began simply bouncing off the aura, and the kunai and shuriken fell out of him. Chris slowly walked towards Ikstaka. Ikstaka punched at Chris, but the attack hit the aura and bounced off. Chris put one finger on Ikstaka's forehead and flicked. Ikstaka was sent flying backwards into the cliff. Chris did a couple of hand signs and the aura disappeared. Then he performed a few more hand signs.

"Shadow Hold Jutsu!" he shouted. Shadowy arms shot out of the cliff face and grabbed Ikstaka's limbs, also wrapping around his waist and neck. Chris performed a final few hand signs. "Shadow Ball!" Shadows from all around came to his hand and formed a dark purple ball.

"I guess this is it for me," Ikstaka said.

"You bet."

"Well, good fight then."

"Yeah. This is the most fun I've had in a long time." Chris ran forward and slammed the Shadow Ball into Ikstaka's chest. "Goodbye, old friend."

"Goodbye, old friend." The ball was absorbed into Ikstaka's body and shot out of the end of his limbs. The shadowy arms went back into the cliff, and Chris caught Ikstaka's body before it fell into the water. He took off Ikstaka's half mask and then dropped his body into the lake.


	15. Aftermath of Battle

**Chapter 14: Aftermath of Battle**

Chris put Ikstaka's mask into his pocket as he walked off the lake. _Man, I'm beat_, I thought. _Using two Shadow Balls, maintaining the Bloodlust technique, and having to stand on water all the time really takes it out of you._ Then he noticed Jack and Ligtigh lying on the ground. _So who won here?_ he wondered speeding up his walk. Jack seemed to be breathing, but he had cuts and bruises everywhere as well as a massive indent in his chest. _Looks like Ligtigh got you good_. Chris grabbed both their bodies and put them over his shoulder. _Ashley best see this one_. He walked over to the enclosement.

"Is he dead?" Keith asked upon seeing Chris enter with Jack and Ligtigh's limp bodies.

"Ligtigh is but Jack needs a good medical ninja. Anyone know where we can find one of those?" Chris asked. Ashley got up from Jill's body and walked over to Chris.

"How bad is he?" she asked. Chris dumped Ligtigh's body next to Houtacki's and Castrah's.

"Not too bad," Chris said gently laying him down. "Considering who he was fighting and all."

"Yikes," Ashley said examining him. Her hands glowed green and she moved them over the wounds, almost instantly healing them. The only wound which took her more than two seconds was the sword wound in his chest.

"So now how did he win?" Chris muttered to himself. "Where's Matt?"

"Here." Matt dropped down from the ceiling.

"My squad, Matt's squad, and… Ashley? Why is everyone in your squad unconscious?" Chris asked. "You really haven't been pushing them too hard have you?"

"Well no, I-"

"This is no time to feel sorry for anyone, woman! We are ninjas!" Matt shouted.

"Sorry, I just-"

"Just wake them up." As Ashley went around shaking her squad, Chris did a few hand signs. A bird appeared in his hand. He tied a note to its leg and let it out the door.

"Why'd you do that?" came Jack's voice from Chris' left.

"I have to let Hokage know we succeeded," he answered.

"Is Jill okay?"

"Um… I don't know. I didn't ask. I guess I should have, eh?" Chris said. "She'll be fine though. It was _Ashley_ who was healing her so don't worry too much." He placed hid hand on Jack's forehead. "I thought as much."

"What?"

"You like her."

"You can tell by feeling my forehead?"

"No, I guessed," Chris said sarcastically.

"But how?"

"That is a secret."

"Well, we had better get going," Matt said.

"What about… the bodies?" Ashley asked. "Wait, where is Ikstaka's body?"

"I dumped it in the lake," Chris replied.

"That was rude!"

"He's dead. Who cares?"

"I have an idea," came a weak voice from their side. Everyone turned to see Jill had awakened. _I'll never understand how she does it_, Chris thought to himself.

"You really need to get some rest," Ashley said walking over to her.

"I'm fine."

"So then what's your idea?" Matt asked.

"We could build a monument and bury them under it," she suggested.

"A monument for rouge ninjas?" Keith asked skeptically.

"Even though in our point of view we may have seen them as evil, they were all powerful ninja and believed in things," Kim said. "Everyone is worth remembering."

"Ahh… the sensitivity of a girl which I shall never possess," Chris said. "Matt, you do the honors. Saying as Ashley and I can't because we were _working_." Matt said nothing and did a couple hand signs. A giant granite kunai rose out of the ground with the handle pointing skywards. Matt jumped to the top and engraved something on the top. He jumped down and finished by engraving a few sentences into the base, "Here lay the remains of the rouge Sound Ninjas Houtacki, Castrah, and Ligtigh. All were great ninja led by Ikstaka whose remains are in the lake near here. May they rest in peace." All the ninja got up and surrounded what Matt had written.

"That's the deepest I've ever seen you get," Ashley remarked. "You even called them 'great ninja.'"

"It's what you would have written," he mumbled. He performed some more hand signs, and on three sides of the monument, rectangular holes opened up in the ground. Matt picked up each body and laid it in a hole before closing them, Chris went out of the enclosement for a while and came back a few minutes later.

"Where were you?" Ashley asked.

"I figured Ikstaka deserved a tomb too," Chris said quietly. Everyone stepped outside to see what Chris had done. Ikstaka was laying in a coffin of iced which appeared to be floating on top of the water, but upon further observation, a pillar of ice was seen below it supporting it. A few lines were written in an indecipherable text on the side.

"What do those mean?" Jack asked Chris.

"It's a protection jutsu written in an ancient tongue used by early people… and a few words by myself," he answered.

"Does it increase the protection?"

"Nah. Just looks cool." After everyone had finished admiring Chris' handiwork, they set out for Konoha. "So Jack… how did you defeat Ligtigh?" Chris asked while they were walking back.

"I don't know. All of a sudden he started moving slow, and his moves were really obvious. I guess he must have been tired or something."

"Ahh. Good."

"What?"

"It seems he put you in a point of excessive danger at which you were forced to bring out your last resort."

"Which is…?"

"Your Shadow Eyes. It was the same with the Uchihas. If someone who had never activated their Sharingan before was put into extreme danger, they would unconsciously activate their Sharingan and thus gain full control of their unique eyes. It should be the same with you, but I wouldn't try it right now."

"So I used the Shadow Eye?"

"That _is_ what I just finished explaining."

"Sorry… er… Chris?"

"Yes?"

"Um… now that you've killed Ikstaka… can you tell me why you hated him so much?" Chris sighed.

"Everyone wants to know each others secrets, don't they? Well I guess I really have no good reason for hiding it. Never did really," he told Jack. "You see Jack, Ikstaka was an exchange student to the Leaf Village from the Sound Village when I was still at the academy. Turns out he was a spy and probably helped gather information for when Orochimaru attacked the Village. Anyways, he couldn't become friends with anyone so he found me one day and asked if I would be his friend. I, having almost no friends of my own, of course accepted. Unfortunately, Ikstaka soon found new and more popular friends. He then ditched me for them. A little after this I acquired a new friend. Her name was-"

"It was a girl?"

"Girls do tend to have the pronoun 'her' refer to them. Anywho, her name was Julie, and she was the most beautiful ninja I had ever seen."

"Oooo. You totally liked her."

"Due to some actions I had taken," Chris continued, ignoring the comment. "People started to accuse and make fun of me for liking her. I, of course, denied it even though I knew it to be true. I got into a short fight with Ikstaka during this time and after I was excused from being disciplined, Julie met me and apologized for that happening. After that day, I didn't see her until she was assigned to my squad when we became Genin. I don't know what happened to her in that period of time nor did she ever tell me. Then one day, the Hokage sent us to get rid of Ikstaka. During the fight… Julie was killed by Ikstaka. I fell into a rage and tried to kill him. Unfortunately, some Sound Ninja came and saved his butt before I finished. And from that day I vowed to kill Ikstaka and now I have."

"Well that was a long spiel," Jack commented.

"With two interruptions. You asked and now you know. Oh and by the way, that could have been a lot longer. I shortened it as much as possible."

"I'd hate to hear the full thing."

--

"That was a rough mission, wasn't it?" Kim asked Jill.

"Yeah. We were the two who got the most beating," Jill said as she skirted around a puddle in the road. "So… did you die?"

"I guess a little bit," Kim said scratching her head. "My heart seemed to stop and I couldn't move. I didn't really feel any pain, and then I just lost conci- conscious… ness. That's a big word, consciousness."

"Yep. Pretty big. It's like twelve letters long."

"Yeah. Well I don't know what happened after that cause I was, you know, out of it, but sometime later, I don't know how long, I woke up and Margo was over me with his hands here and here." She showed Jill with her hands.

"Ew."

"That's what I thought, but I guess he was helping me to stay alive."

"Well being alive is nice."

"True, true."

--

"I just wanted to thank you for what you did back there," Charles told Margo.

"Oh. Er… thanks. Uh… which thing?"

"Well everything really, especially keeping Kim alive. You were a big help." There was a short pause. "Can I confide in you?"

"Sure. We're gonna be teammates for a pretty long time, right? We might as well be able to trust each other."

"Well it's Kim. She's so beautiful and when I look at her I sometimes lose my concentration and when she smiles my heart leaps for joy."

"I see what you mean. You like her. Like a lot. But don't worry, your secret is safe with me."

--

"Now Ashley, why is it that your squad lost to Castrah so quickly?" Matt asked her. "Have you not been training them hard enough?"

"I'm sorry. I just have… stuff to do-"

"You should be training your Genin or at least supervising them so they don't kill each other," Matt critiqued. "They are the future of the Leaf Village and they need to be at the best they can! If they are weak then we could be invaded and destroyed like we almost were a couple of years ago!"

"I know, I know. I'll try to-"

"No. You will not try. You will do. Your students will never become Jonin or Chunin if they are not trained properly."

"Sorry. I'll tr- I will train them harder."

"Good."

--

Finally the group reached the Leaf Village and reported to the Hokage's office.

"Excellent, excellent," the Hokage said. "Congratulations! You have done very well." He motioned for the squad leaders to come closer to him. He continued talking, lowering his voice so the Genin couldn't hear. "So what happened? Who killed who? Details please."

"I myself killed Houtacki when Kim went into critical condition, either Margo or Charles killed Castrah, Chris killed Ikstaka, and Jack killed Ligtigh," Matt listed off.

"I assume Charles and Margo were fighting Castrah together?"

"That is correct."

"So a Genin killed a Chunin by himself. Some Genin amaze me. You know, I myself didn't become a Chunin until-"

"We know," Matt said.

"Oh, sorry," the Hokage apologized. "I guess you best move along." A ninja dropped down next to the Hokage. He wore brown pants that cut off at his shins and a gray coat with a high collar just like Chris's. He had round sunglasses and brown spiky hair. A small gourd was attached to his back.

"Why wasn't I invited?" the ninja asked in a sarcastic yet completely serious way.

"What's the word, Shino?" the Hokage asked, ignoring the question.

"Trouble at the south gates. However, it also seems the Nara laboratory has been attacked. At that time however, most of our shinobi were holding off the ninjas at the south gates so they successfully infiltrate the laboratory," Shino reported.

"Hmm… no telling what they want from there. You three go there as fast as possible and see if you can stop them," the Hokage ordered.

"Right away," Chris said and the three of them vanished in a poof of smoke. The Hokage turned his attention to the Genin who were still in the room.

"You have all done exceptionally well on your mission and deserve some rest. Please go to your homes and rest up."

--

**Authors Note: Reading **_**The Diary of Anne Frank**_** this week I realized that Margot was a name of a girl and was extremely similar to the self-thought-up name of one of the characters in my story. However, he is indeed male. Hope you enjoyed it and don't forget to review!**


	16. News! A New Chapter Unfolds!

**Chapter 15: News! A New Chapter Unfolds!**

Knock, knock, knock!

"You may enter," came Chris' voice. Jack turned the knob of the door and opened it. He walked into a simple room with a bed in one corner, a desk with a computer on top in another, a television on top of a cabinet against a wall, and a bookshelf in another corner. Chris was sitting on the chair from the desk. He hadn't put his coat on yet. Then Jack saw Chris' bare, unbandaged arms. Both of them were covered in scars of all shapes and sizes. Some even appeared to be teeth marks from animals. The most noticeable scar was one on his right arm which stretched from the back of his hand all the way up and under his black shirt.

"That's disgusting!" Jack exclaimed. Chris took a long white bandage off the back of his chair and began wrapping it around his left arm.

"Yeah, but I can tell you when and where I got each one. Unfortunately, I didn't get one battling Ikstaka so I kept that." He jerked his head at Ikstaka's half mask lying on the desk. "There's a lot of history in these scars." When he finished wrapping the bandage around his arm, he held up his right arm and showed Jack the back of his right hand. "This was my first one." Many scars were on his hand, but the most noticeable stretched from the bottom of his index finger down to the middle of his wrist. "My brother and I got into a fight in a street. His power at the time far outstripped. Still does as a matter of fact. Anyways, he defeated me quickly and then pulled out a kunai. I thought he was going to end my life, but instead he grabbed my hand and made a deep cut across it. It hurt like… a word I prefer not to use. Then he just said, "Let that be a lesson to you," got up, and left."

"You really shouldn't get in fights with your siblings, sensei," Jack said.

"Because you never have, right?" Chris said sarcastically.

"You use sarcasm a lot."

"Indeed I do. Now, I didn't call you here to talk about my grammatical preferences," Chris said as he finished wrapping his right arm in bandages. "I called you here to train. Let's go." Chris grabbed his coat and put it on. Then he opened the door and walked out with Jack following him. He led Jack through Konoha until they reached the training grounds where all the Genin had been tested by Chris, Matt, and Ashley. Chris pushed open the gate to field four and motioned for Jack to go in. "Now…" Chris began as he closed the gates. "Your Shadow Eyes are an excellent tool. If you use them properly, you can put anyone in the Uchiha or Hyuga to shame."

"I thought all the Uchihas were dead." There was a short pause.

"You could say that."

"So some are still alive?"

"Uh… yes. How do you think you got your Shadow Eyes? And anyways, you can't expect a teenage boy, or however old Itachi was, to kill and entire clan of splendid ninja. Some were smart enough to get out of there and stay alive. By the by, what are your parents names?"

"Surken and… uh… Henila."

"So your father possesses the Shadow Eye, not Sharingan?"

"Yes."

"Ok. Fair enough. Now, to what I called you here for. To activate your Shadow Eyes, you must focus your chakra in your eyes. Once they are activate you do not need to hold the chakra there anymore. Try it now." Jack tried to focus his chakra in his eyes, but nothing happened. "Having trouble? Use a hand sign." Jack put his hands in the neutral pose. He then tried to focus his chakra in his eyes again This time he felt a strange sensation of moving inside him, but it was very slow. After about half a minute Chris stopped Jack. "Bad news, your chakra control sucks. In order to get to the level we need, you will need to master simple chakra control."

"I'm trying my best."

"I understand that. Now here's the exercise. Senseis have been using it for decades to teach their students chakra control." Chris walked Jack into the forest. He patted a tall tree. "I want you to climb this tree."

"Well that's not too hard."

"Without using your hands."

"Well that sounds difficult."

"If you know what you're doing, no. Simply focus chakra in your feet," Chris said putting his hands in the neutral. "And walk up the tree." He placed his foot on the bark and then the other one and walked up to the top of the tree. He dropped down and rolled out. "Now remember, too much chakra won't work and too little chakra won't work. You gotta have it just right. Also, you may want to get a running start. It will probably help you." Chris started to walk away.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going to get breakfast. I'm starving. Trust me, you won't be done before I get back." He left.

_Well, how hard can this be?_ Jack put his hands in the neutral pose and moved some chakra into his feet. He ran at the tree Chris had designated and tried to run up it. He had taken about four steps before he fell off and landed on his back. _Ok. It can be hard._ He focused his chakra and again ran at the tree. He fell after five steps. _Note to self: Break your falls._ He kept doing this for a while until Chris came back with a cup of ramen.

"Hungry?" Jack ran a Chris and snatched the ramen out of his hand." Make much progress?"

"I've gotten… about a fourth… of the way up," Jack said between bites.

"Hmm… not much progress. Oh yes, you should mark how high you get by making a slash with a kunai." Jack tossed aside the ramen cup and ran at the tree again, pulling a kunai. He got a step over a fourth of the way up and as he started to fell, he slashed at the tree. This left a horizontal mark on the bark of the tree. This procedure continued for around two hours when Jack finally made it about three-fourths of the way up. "Ok. That's enough and plus I'm getting bored." He and Jack returned to the circular area near the gate. "Now let's see if you can do it now." Jack put his hands in the neutral pose and tried to focus his chakra in his eyes. He felt a strange rushing feeling which stopped in his head. A power seemed to surround his eyes, and he let his chakra go.

"I think I did it!" Jack exclaimed.

"Indeed you did. Now we must work with it. Fights using your Shadow Eyes should be a lot easier than without them. They can give you an advantage over someone who is stronger than you. _If_ you use them properly! First off they are Sharingan so they can copy your opponent. However if the move you wish to copy is too difficult for you, don't use it! You could very well kill yourself. When you watch fights, it can be useful to activate your Shadow Eyes and learn the techniques being used. This will allow you to use them later when you are stronger and need a large variety of jutsus."

"Anything else?" Jack asked impatiently.

"Yes. You must train while using it to learn how to use it well." Chris threw some shuriken at Jack who sidestepped them easily.

"Isn't that kind of dangerous?"

"You'll live."

"That's comforting." Chris appeared above Jack and brought his leg down on Jack's shoulder. Jack uppercutted Chris in the jaw which caused him to fall back. He hand sprung back onto his feet. "You're holding back," Jack pointed out.

"Well, of course. You'd be dead now if I wasn't." Jack jumped forward and kicked at Chris' head. Chris grabbed Jack's foot and punched at his stomach. Jack blocked Chris' attack, pulled out a shuriken, and threw it at Chris. Chris slipped his finger through the hole in the center of the shuriken as it flew towards him, and it spun wildly on his finger. "Ok. That's good." He let go of Jack's foot and Jack fell to the ground. "Just keep training and you'll be a fine ninja."

"We're done?"

"Yeah. I can't use too much energy on you. Who knows what the day may bring."

"But we've barely just begun!"

"You're fine. You need not train with me. Let's go." Chris and Jack walked back into the main section of the Leaf Village.

"Man, there sure is a lot of people out. I wonder why," Jack thought.

"Oh yeah! Thanks Jack!" Chris said and vanished in a poof of smoke.

"You're welcome?" Jack said confused.

--

Chris appeared in a room with several other sensei including Ashley and Matt. The Hokage was in the front of the room with Nieca standing behind him.

"Nice of you to join us," Matt remarked.

"Sorry. I forgot."

"Well now we may begin," the Hokage said. "As you all know, the Chunin Exam is coming up. This year we are hosting it again. I will take nominations from you now." Almost every sensei in the room nominated the three members of his or her squad. "And what of you three?" The Hokage asked turning to Chris, Matt, and Ashley. Chris stepped forward.

"I, Christopher Peterson, do hereby nominate Jack Erstonep, Keith Bakura, and Jill Genbireder for the Chunin Exams." Matt stepped forward.

"I, Matthew Peterson, do hereby nominate Charles Matog, Margo Wastulik, and Kim Unesad for the Chunin Exams." Ashley stepped forward.

"I, Ashley Ozark, do hereby nominate Donn Sebb, Logan Elstyl, and Courtney Isruttosc for the Chunin Exams." There was a low murmur around the room.

"Silence," the Hokage ordered. "You all remember several years ago similar events occurred. As the Hokage approved it before, I approve it now. You are dismissed, except for you three." He indicated Chris, Matt, and Ashley. He waited for the other senseis to leave before speaking. "Your students must be at their best for the Exams. With the recent attacks I fear a repeat of events prior. Matt, I would like to personally train Margo for the Exams. Do I have your consent?"

"You may train him," Matt answered.

"Good. Dismissed." As the three exited the room, a woman ran down the hall towards them.

"Ashley! Ashley!"

"What is it, Maklin?" Maklin stopped next to Ashley and whispered something in her ear. "Really?" Maklin nodded. "Oh my gosh! That's great! That's so wonderful I'm going to have to invent a new word to describe it! Like… incredtacularistic! Chris, follow me!"

"What about me?" Matt asked.

"You wouldn't care."

"Probably not," he replied and vanished. Ashley and Maklin walked quickly out of the building with Chris following close behind them. They took him through the Leaf Village into a small, secluded corner of the village. Here they entered a house and walked down a hallway to a closed door.

"Behind this door is something that I am sure will make you incredibly happy," Ashley said. "Well, what are you waiting for? Go in!" Chris grabbed the handle, turned it, and opened the door. The room looked like a normal bedroom complete with a dresser, nightstand, closet, mirror, and bed, but it wasn't the room that was special. It was the person lying in the bed. It was Julie and she was breathing. As Chris' mind took all of this in, he simply stood dumbfounded in the doorway and then walked slowly into the room as if it were the temple of God himself.

"But how?" he asked.

"As soon as we returned to the Leaf Village, the medical ninja took her remains, remember?"

"Oh yes."

"I quickly got consent to work on it. I took all her organs and put them back. I healed her wounds. Then I tried to restart her heart. It worked… a little bit. She'd been dead for a while. She's been in a coma ever since. Until today when Maklin told me she had awoken. Now she is simply sleeping and should be back to normal in no time." Chris turned to Ashley and hugged her.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you. I will never be able to say that enough," Chris whispered in her ear. "I loved you before just for who you were. Your kindness and such, but this action is… incredtacularistic. You are truly the best friend a guy could have."

--

**Author's Note: Why is it that some words just don't exist according to Webster and I have to make them up? I mean, unbandaged and uppercutted aren't words!? Anyways, I have been planning this chapter since like Chapter 8 so it's nice to finally be able to write it down. Now I have to figure out what to write next... um... yeah. I probably should go work on that. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

**P.S. Shakespeare so abuses similes and metaphors.**


	17. The Preamble Test

**Chapter 16: The Preamble Test**

"Where is sensei?" Jill asked. "He's late." There was a poof of smoke and Chris appeared.

"Sorry I'm-"

"Late." Jack, Keith, and Jill crossed their arms and looked at Chris crossly.

"You have no idea how threatening three ten year olds crossing their arms look," Chris commented. "Anyways, if you have noticed, there is something going on in the Leaf Village. There are more people and a lot of them are from other villages. The reason for this occurrence is that the Chunin Exams are beginning. I have nominated all three of you for this event." He pulled out three cards and gave one to each of the Genin. "Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to register for these exams. The sign up is today. There are details of location on that card. Good luck." He vanished in a poof of smoke.

"Um… so do we go?" Keith asked.

"Heck yeah! Let's go!" Jack shouted and ran off down the street. He stopped suddenly and walked back. "I just realized I have no idea where I am going."

"He said the details are on these cards," Jill said. They all inspected their cards.

"Well I guess we just walk around till we find this place," Keith said. He and Jack began walking down the street.

"Guys, it's right there." Jill pointed a little in the opposite direction Jack and Keith were heading.

"Oh…" they said simultaneously. The three all walked up to the building, which was rather large, and stepped inside.

"Says here it's room 3A," Jack read off his card. They walked up a flight of stairs and saw a crowd of people by a door. "That must be it." He began walking towards the crowd, but Jill grabbed him his collar and pulled him back.

"Doesn't it seem odd to you we're only on the second floor and yet that room says 3A? I'm not even that great of a genjutsu person, and I can tell this is obviously a trick," Jill told her teammates. "Let's not inform these people and just move on." They walked up another flight of stairs and down a few hallways until they faced a room that reported to be 3A.

"Isn't it strange we had to walk down so many hallways to get to room 3_A_?" Keith asked.

"Yeah but there's people in this room. I can feel the chakra," Jill answered. She opened the door to reveal a room filled with about a hundred people seated at long tables in the center of the room. Everyone turned to look at the new arrivals.

"Welcome, we will start soon," came a voice from the front of the room. "Bienvenido, empezaremos pronto. Bienvenue, nous commencerons bientôt."

"O…k." The three took a seat where there were available seats, but they were unable to be seated next to each other. After a few more squads walked in, including Matt's and Ashley's, the man at the front of began to speak.

"You are about to take the beginning test that will judge who is able to move to the next round. It will be a written test with ten questions. You will have a time limit of a half hour. Proctors are all around the room. If you are caught cheating, they will keep note of it. After three times you are caught cheating, you will be removed from the premises by force if necessary. You will be notified if you pass the test. Any questions?" the proctor asked. However, he continued speaking. "Usted está a punto de dar comienzo la prueba de que juez que es capaz de pasar a la siguiente ronda. Se trata de una prueba escrita con diez preguntas. Usted tendrá un plazo de media hora. Proctors están todos alrededor de la sala. Si se capturan las trampas, que mantendrá nota de ello. Después de tres veces que se ven atrapados trampas, será retirado de los locales por la fuerza si es necesario. Se le notificará si usted pasa la prueba. Todas las preguntas? Vous êtes sur le point de prendre le début de test qui juge qui est en mesure de passer au tour suivant. Il sera un test écrit avec dix questions. Vous disposez d'un délai d'une demi-heure. Proctors sont tout autour de la salle. Si vous êtes pris la tricherie, ils ne manquera pas de tenir la note de celui-ci. Après trois fois vous êtes pris la tricherie, vous serez retirés des locaux par la force si nécessaire. Vous serez informé si vous passez l'épreuve. Toutes les questions?"

"What is he saying?" Jack asked Charles, who was sitting in front of him.

"He's repeating everything he's saying in Spanish and French," Charles answered. "I have no idea why. All of us speak the same language. I think."

"No questions? Good. We shall begin," the proctor announced. "No hay preguntas? Bueno. Vamos a empezar. Aucune question? Bien. Nous commencerons." The other proctors around the room distributed the tests and took seats around the room. They sat at the end of each row. Cheating would be nigh impossible. "Ready? Begin. Listo? Empezar. Prêt? Commencer." Jack picked up the pencil in front of him. And looked at the first question.

1.) How many kunai should a ninja carry when on a mission? Why?

_Ha! I know this! _Jack thought. _Three because he can use one in each hand and have a spare._ He wrote his answer in the space.

2.) If your friend is injured on a mission, do you take them back to the village or continue with the mission? Why?

Jack ground his teeth. He knew the answer, although he didn't like it.

_You continue with the mission because it's more important than one dead ninja, _he wrote in the space.

3.) If a ninja traveling at 30 mph is chasing another ninja who is traveling at 25 mph and they are 15 miles apart, how long will it take for the first ninja to catch up to the other?

_What?_ Jack thought. He reread the question. _That's ridiculous! Who even cares!?_ He went to the next question.

4.) If a shuriken is thrown with a 40° at 30 mph, will it reach a tree that is 120 feet away?

_What is this? Math class?_ He went to the next question.

5.) What is the best method for blocking a Fireball Jutsu?

Jack wrote "don't" in the space.

6.) If there are three enemy ninjas attacking your squad and-

Jack never finished reading the question. At that moment, the floor opened up and he fell into a tunnel. The tunnel curved and twisted a bit but he eventually came out into a tall, cube-like room. Unfortunately he came out the ceiling and fell about thirty feet. However he rolled out of his fall and barely felt a thing. After he had stood up another person fell from the ceiling. Jack ran to catch them before they hit the ground. He made it there in time and stuck out his arms, but the person hit with such force that he was immediately knocked down.

"That was a big help," came the sarcastic voice of a girl.

"Sorry. I just didn't expect you to be so _heavy_," Jack said putting emphasis on the last word. The girl gasped.

"Excuse me?"

"Gosh, sorry. I am thinking we are gonna need to get out of here so let's try to cooperate." For the first time since landing, Jack looked around the room. The room was a cube about thirty feet by thirty feet. It was made of brick, and there was a door on one side of the room, with its bottom about 23 feet up the wall. There were no stairs or a ladder. In fact, that wall was made entirely of ice, unlike the others, and it would be nigh impossible to run up it.

"So how do you think we can get up there?" the girl asked indicating the door. Jack turned back to the girl. Her skin was tanned to a light brown. She was decently tall, probably five feet and a few inches. She wore extremely light looking hiking boots. It didn't seem they would slow her down in a fight. She had a khaki colored skirt that reached halfway down to her knees, and a tight-fitting, white shirt that exemplified the curves around her breasts and waist. She was quite skinny and Jack felt guilty he had not caught her. She probably weighed less than he did! Her eyes were deep brown, and her brown hair sat on her shoulders as well as hanging behind her. The headband on her forehead gave her away as a Sound Ninja. Jack's heart skipped a beat as he examined her. _Well I guess it wouldn't be too bad being stuck in this room for a while_, he thought. _The guys on her squad are lucky._ "Well?" the girl asked impatiently.

"Um… well it would be impossible to run up the wall because it's so slippery," Jack said.

"It's impossible to run up any wall that high," the girl said.

"No it's not," Jack responded.

"Yes, it is."

"I can do it."

"Prove it." Jack put his hands in the neutral pose and ran at a wall made of brick. He ran up most of it, stopped for about five seconds, and ran back down.

"You can't do that?" Jack asked the girl.

"No." The girl folded her arms across her chest in frustration. She was obviously not very happy Jack could do something she couldn't.

"Er… what's your name?" Jack asked after a little while. The girl said nothing for a little bit but finally spoke.

"My name is Anaki," she said. "And yours?"

"Jack."

"That's a strange name."

"My mother was in America for a few years."

"Well, let's not waste our time chatting. We need to get out of here," Anaki reminded Jack.

"So do you have any-"

"Wait. Be quiet," Anaki cut Jack off. She walked over to one of the walls and pressed her ear to it.

"I don't hear anything," Jack said.

"I have enhanced hearing," Anaki explained. She began moving down the wall.

"That sounds useful."

"Trust me, it has its drawbacks."

"Like what?"

"Well first off, music isn't too friendly to my ears, and I can tell whenever someone finds me attractive."

"How?"

"Their heart beats faster when they look at me. You know, kind of like what yours is doing right now." Jack felt blood rush to his face. Anaki smiled and then frowned.

"What?"

"I found the source of the noise, but it's behind this brick. I can't get my fingers in there to pull it out," Anaki told Jack.

"Perhaps I can be of assistance," Jack said walking over to Anaki and putting his hands in the neutral pose. His shadow climbed up the wall, and its arms reached into the small crack between the bricks, grabbing the back edge of the brick. Jack took his arms out of the neutral pose and put his arms out in the same position as his shadow's. He began pulling them towards him. As he did this, the brick began to slide out of the wall. Eventually it fell out, landing with a resounding thud that echoed around the room. As soon as the brick was out, Jack heard a low ticking coming from inside the hole. He looked inside and saw a small piece of metal tapping against the back of another wall. Next to the piece of metal was a short lever. Jack grabbed it and pulled down. There was a clicking sound and bricks in the wall began sliding out, creating a makeshift staircase to the door. Unfortunately there was still a considerable distance between the last brick-stair and the door. Jack climbed the staircase to the top stair.

_Just take a running jump I guess…?_ Jack thought to himself. He ran the short length of the stair and jumped for the door. He jumped too far and hit the wall hard, but managed to grab the knob. He twisted the knob and the door swung open.

"Come on, Anaki!"

Anaki climbed the staircase, ran the length of the last stair, and jumped. She landed neatly inside the doorway. Jack kicked his legs so that the door would swing back and then swung himself inside the doorway, closing the door behind him. Jack and Anaki were in a hallway with a door at the end. They walked silently down the hallway. Once they reached the door, both of them reached for the knob. Anaki's hand fell on top of Jack's. Her skin was very smooth against his somewhat rough skin, and he pulled back immediately.

"Sorry," Jack muttered.

"Haha. Don't worry about it. It was worth it to hear your pulse accelerate so quickly." She smiled to herself as she opened the door. It led them to a large circular room with doors covering the wall. In front of them was a desk with three men Jack recognized as test proctors from the written exam.

"Name?" one asked. Jack stepped up to the desk.

"Jack Erstonep." One of the proctors circled something on the sheet of paper in front of him. Jack assumed it was his name. Anaki stepped forward.

"Anaki Masil." Another proctor circled something on his paper.

"You may join the other Genin in the middle of the room," one of the proctors.

"You have passed the 'written' exam," another said.

"Good job," the last said.

-

**Authors Note: Sorry about the title, I was studying the Constitution when I wrote the beginning. But now I am out of school so hopefully I will be able to update this story more often. Also if someone was made to feel uncomfortable by my description of Anaki then I apologize. Please review if you read this chapter. I love to hear the input of my readers.**


	18. The Forest of Death

**Chapter 17: The Forest of Death**

Jack and Anaki walked towards the center of the circular room where a large crowd of Genin were standing.

"Well, it was nice meeting you, Jack," Anaki said.

"Same here," Jack replied. He walked away from her looking for Keith and Jill.

"Oh Jack! I'm so glad you made it out!" came Jill's voice from behind him. Jack felt arms wrap around him from behind. His face immediately felt warm. "We were worried we would be disqualified!"

"What? Disqualified?" Jill's arms slipped off him and he turned around.

"Yeah. They told us if our entire squad didn't make it out we would be disqualified. Something about it being necessary for the next test… but that doesn't matter because you made it out! Who were you with anyway?"

"A sound ninja named Anaki. She seemed nice enough," Jack answered. "You?" Jill scowled.

" A Leaf ninja called Jeral. He was a real jerk. I hope he falls in a pit full of locusts or something," Jill said darkly.

"Wow. He must have been really bad… hey, where's Keith?"

"He's still talking with Narada, the girl he had as a partner," Jill said with a bit of venom in her voice. A smile crept to Jack's lips.

"You're not jealous, are-"

"No! Don't be ridiculous!" There was a short pause.

"Sounds like you are."

"Would you be quiet!" Jill shouted and pushed Jack away. Jack's smile vanished immediately. Jill folded her arms and turned away. Jack took a step forward.

"Er… sorry, Jill. Really, I am. I shouldn't have said that. I'm sure you don't actually feel that way for Keith." Jill didn't say anything for a while.

"I forgive you. I know you were kidding. I think."

"Hey guys. What's up with the yelling I was hearing?" Keith asked as he rejoined his squad.

"It was nothing," Jill answered.

"Oh. Ok. I see. So when are they going to-"

"May I have your attention?" a proctor yelled over the noise, interrupting Keith. "¿Puedo tener su atención? Mai j'ai votre attention?" The noise died down as everyone recognized the head proctor of this portion of the exam.

"Why can't he always speak in the language we all understand?" someone near Jack, Keith, and Jill grumbled.

"Anyone here that has their entire squad here is allowed to advance to the next section of the exam. If your entire squad is not here, you may not advance to the next round. The next part of the exam will take place in the forbidden section of the forest. Meet at the gate there no later than 7:30 tomorrow morning. Does everyone know where that is?" the head proctor asked. "Hay alguien aquí que tiene la totalidad de su plantilla aquí se le permite avanzar a la siguiente sección del examen. Si toda su plantilla no está aquí, no se puede avanzar a la siguiente ronda. La siguiente parte del examen tendrá lugar prohibido por la sección del bosque. Conoce a la puerta hay más tardar mañana por la mañana 7:30. ¿Todo el mundo sabe que cuando es? Toute personne qui a ici toute leur équipe ici est autorisé à l'avance à la section suivante de l'examen. Si votre équipe n'est pas ici, pas vous mai l'avance pour la prochaine ronde. La prochaine partie de l'examen aura lieu dans la section interdit de la forêt. Rendez-vous à la porte il ya au plus tard demain matin 7:30. Ce que tout le monde sait où c'est?" There was a low murmur of agreement after the proctor finished his translation.

"Excellent. The next portion of the exam will be explained there. Good luck to you all. You may exit through that door. Excelente. La siguiente parte del examen se explicó en ese país. Buena suerte a todos ustedes. Usted puede salir a través de esa puerta. Excellent. La prochaine partie de l'examen sera expliqué. Bonne chance à vous tous. Vous mai sortir par cette porte." The proctor pointed to a door bigger than the rest that were in lining the wall. The large crowd of Genin walked towards the door pointed out by the proctor, some seeming to be bubbling over with enthusiasm and others dragging their feet behind them. It took a while for the mass to enter into the doorway, but eventually Jack, Keith, and Jill got through. Inside was a large staircase. The staircase turned around many times in what appeared to be an attempt at saving space. Jack, Keith, and Jill headed up the long staircase. At the top was an open door which led into the room where they had started taking the written exam.

"This was all under… the Village?" Jill wondered aloud. "How could they have organized this so quickly?"

"Because they are professionals," Jack said. The squad walked out of the room and then the building. Standing outside was Chris.

"Well done! I see you are all proficient in teamwork!" he exclaimed.

"What?" Keith asked.

"All the tests that you just completed required you to work with the person you were paired with. You have no idea how difficult it was to set that all up in fifteen minutes. First you have to think up the puzzle and then setup and it goes on and on… but alas, I shall not bore you with the details."

"I can't imagine how many people it took to do that," Jill said.

"Many. Anyway, you guys should go prepare for tomorrow or something. I have to go help set up… so not worth 7.50 an hour…" Chris muttered as he vanished in a cloud of smoke.

--

"Jack!"

"Five more minutes…" Jack mumbled. Jill walked over and shook Jack by the shoulders.

""Jack! You fell asleep standing up again."

"Wha… oh, sorry."

"Why do you keep doing that?" Keith asked him.

"You see the sun moon thing on my jacket? Most of my clan are insomniacs, we don't sleep. I can get to sleep but not for long."

"But you're never tired at the academy!"

"That's because I go home, eat, and then sleep. Unfortunately, I keep waking up so I get like 6 hours of sleep collectively."

"That's rough, man."

"Attention Genin," came a voice from in front of the crowd Jack, Jill, and Keith were standing in. Immediately silence fell over the area. "You are about to begin the second portion of the Chunin Exams. It will take place in this forest. Your squad's task is to find three pieces if stone that will fit together. Once you have done this, you shall put them together. You will know what to do next. Many challenges will arise for all of your squads. The first 21 ninja to complete this task will advance. Any questions?" There was silence. "Excellent. Now there are a couple forms you must fill out. You know, to make sure no one is sneaking in, give you all details, in case you die… so they're over there." The proctor pointed at a two-story building. "Squads with proctors with last names A-M first floor, N-Z second floor. Good luck."

--

"So how do you think they'll do?" Chris asked.

"_I_ trained them. They will succeed," Matt said.

"Rather humble, aren't you?"

"You know it to be true." Chris sighed.

"You don't have to rub it in that you're so superior to everyone." Matt smiled evilly.

"I know but it's more fun this way."

"Oh would you two stop," Ashley said. "Aren't you worried about them?"

"No." Matt and Chris answered.

"I just can't believe you think they're ready. They're quite young," a woman noted.

"Pah. You worry to much, Rachel and Ashley," Chris replied. "Anyways, it's easier to have them fend for themselves than train them myself."

"The exams are a good training tool. Los exámenes son un buen instrumento de formación. Les examens sont un bon outil de formation."

"They are, aren't they?"

"It gives them a chance to fight and meet other ninja, learn to work together with their squad, and see other jutsus. Se les da una oportunidad de lucha y conozca a otros ninjas, aprender a trabajar junto con su escuadrón, y ver otros jutsus. Il leur donne une chance de lutte et de rencontrer d'autres nin-" The proctor was cut off by Chris grabbing his throat.

"Xint, if you utter one more word in French, I will rip out your esophagus and feed it to you," Chris said.

"Sorry. Lo siento."

"I'm still worried they'll get hurt," Ashley put in.

"Oh come on, Ashley. No one has ever died in the Exams… this year."

--

Jack, Keith, and Jill took their position at gate 47.

"You think it'll be dangerous?" Jack asked.

"They made us sign a waiver that said our clan couldn't sue if we are killed. I think there is a slight chance it will be dangerous," Jill responded.

"Sounds like fun," Keith said taking a bite of a chocolate bar.

"Well if something wants to eat us, at least it'll go for Keith first," Jack commented.

"Was that a fat joke?" Keith asked looking at Jack menacingly. They all burst out laughing.

"Attention Genin," came a voice over some sort of loudspeaker. "Remember your goal is to find three stone pieces that fit together. Many obstacles await you in the Forest of Death."

"What an original name," Jack said.

"Only the first 7 squads who achieve the goal will move onto the next round. You may open the gate in front of you." Keith stepped forward and pushed the gate open. "Enter the forest. You have one hour. After that everyone except those who have achieved the goal will be removed from the forest. You may begin!"

"Okay! Let's move!" Jack said. They all ran forward into the forest. "So what are we looking for do you think?"

"I'm sure they'll be in some sort of clearing," Jill said.

"Maybe in a tree?" Keith put in.

"That would be a clever trick," Jack commented.

"I think there's a clearing ahead," Jill told Jack and Keith. They entered a clearing and stopped. In the center was a stone half-sphere hollowed out so that something could be placed inside it. Jack ran forward to grab it. "Jack, wait!" Right after she said this, Jack was lifted into the air. A rope was tied around his ankle and attached to a tree branch above.

"This is embarrassing," Jack said from his inverted position.

"Didn't you see it was too easy?" Jill asked.

"It uh… may have crossed my mind." Keith threw a kunai which split the rope. Jack began to fall. "Ahh!" He landed on his back. "Ow! Didn't you guys think about catching me or something?"

"That may have crossed my mind," Jill said looking up and putting a finger on her chin. Jack picked up the strange stone.

"Well, we have a piece now so-"

"You will be giving it to us," came a voice from the trees. Three ninjas with Sound village headbands stepped out of the trees into the clearing.

"Why would we do that?" Jack inquired.

"Because we will kill you if you don't."

"You realize that's not a complete thought."

"Shutup!"

"You know all three of us have fought Chunin."

"And won?"

"No, we died in the fight." The ninja speaking turned to the other two.

"This little one is pissing me off," he told them.

"We'll surprise him from behind."

"He won't see it coming."

"I'll even act surprised though I know your plan," Jack said. The "leader" ninja gritted his teeth, turned, and ran at Jack. Jack did some hand signs. He sunk into the ground and came out of the ninja's shadow. The ninja turned around to be hit in the left shoulder by a shuriken.

"Acid Spitting Jutsu!" Keith yelled. The ninja looked up to be hit in the face by acid. He opened his mouth to scream, and the acid flowed into it. His scream quickly died as his tongue was incinerated. He fell over on the ground. Jack looked over at the other ninjas who both wore very surprised expressions. They fell forward on their faces. Jill stood over them cleaning off two bloody kunais with an embroider handkerchief.

"Pitiful," she said.

"I guess those waivers were necessary after all," Jack said.

"Let's get going. There could be stronger ninja around," Keith suggested.

"Yeah, those guys were, as Jill said, pitiful." They ran back into the forest. After about five minutes, Keith stopped.

"Wait," he said. "Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"The thudding."

"No."

"Follow me." Keith started running through the forest, turning this way and that. Finally a thudding sound was noticeable. It came from straight ahead. Keith stopped at the edge of a recently made clearing. Trees lay everywhere. In the center was a slightly larger than normal human made of stone. It stood 8 feet tall. "That thing must have something."

"Yeah but it's made of stone. How do we defeat it?" Jill wondered.

"We take out whatever is powering it," Jack replied.

"Which is?" Jack opened his mouth and then closed it.

"I have no idea."

"What if we asked nicely?" Keith suggested.

"Like that would work," Jill said rolling her eyes.

"Well let's see if we can damage it," Jack proposed. "I'll get behind it. Make a triangle around it." Jack did some hand signs and sank into the ground. He rose from the stone golem's shadow behind it. Keith and Jill stepped into the clearing to surround the golem. If you wanted to, you could have drawn a line from one to the other and made a triangle. (If you were that much of a nerd.) Jack threw two shuriken at it. They bounced off the cold stone without even leaving a scratch. The golem turned around. It ran at Jack with surprising speed, punching him in the stomach. He flew back into a tree. He fell forward. On the tree, the bark was cracked, and there was an indent where Jack had hit.

"Jack!" Jill screamed and ran over to him.

"I'm fine," he said rolling over.

"Really?"

"No, not really."

"Fighting it isn't going to work," Keith said running up beside them.

"So what do you suggest? Anything else we could do won't work!"

"Not everything." Keith turned around and faced the golem. "Hey Mr. Golem. May we please have whatever stone piece you have?" The golem pulled a triangular piece of stone out of its forehead and threw it underhand to Keith who caught it. "Thanks. Told ya it'd work."

"Oh be quiet."

"If it makes you feel any better, Jack, that jutsu you used is incredibly awesome."

"Thanks. So we just need one more, right?" Jack asked weakly.

"Yep." Jack tried to stand up. He immediately fell over. "Don't exert yourself. Keith, can you carry him?"

"Shouldn't be a problem." Keith grabbed Jack off the ground and put his arm over his shoulder. "Let's go." They walked into the forest. In ten minutes they came to a stone pillar. On top was another stone triangle.

"Darn. We already have that," Jill said. Keith threw a shuriken and knocked the triangle off the pillar. Four pillars came out of the forest and crashed together. If anyone had been standing there, they would have been instantly crushed.

"Grab that. We could use it to barter or something." Jill went over and picked up the stone triangle. They continued to walk through the forest. A couple minutes later, Keith stopped again. He stood for a second. "Get down!" He grabbed Jill and fell to the ground. Shuriken thudded into a tree to their right.

"Stop right there!" came Charles' voice. Charles, Kim, and Margo appeared in front of them. "Oh it's you. Sorry about that. You guys have the third piece?"

"We have a half-sphere and two triangles," Jill told him.

"Excellent! We have a half-sphere and two rod things." Charles pulled out a short stone rod. Jill pulled out her triangle. Charles and she extended their hands and exchanged pieces. Kim did a few hand signs and they disappeared. Keith pulled out the other two pieces and handed them to Jill. She flipped over the triangle and noticed a small hole. She stuck the rod in this. Then she looked into the hollow section of the sphere and saw a similar indent in the bottom. She stuck the rod into it. Once she had done this, the rod in the sphere began to spin uncontrollably until it finally stopped.

"What now?" Jill asked.

"We go where it points."

"It's a triangle."

"An _isosceles_ triangle. That is kind of like a compass except it doesn't point north. So we go in a general… that way direction." Keith pointed the way the stone compass was. Jill picked it up, and they walked through the forest the way the compass pointed. Finally they arrived at a clearing and the rod began to once more spin uncontrollably.

"Great. Now it's broken."

"No. We've arrived. Here make sure he doesn't die."

"I'm not going to die," Jack said as Keith set him down.

"Be quiet." Keith began walking around the clearing tapping the ground with his foot.

"Arrived where?"

"Our destination."

"Where? I see nothing."

"That's because…" Keith reached down into the grass, grabbed something, and pulled up. A door leading underground opened. "It's underground."

"Who are you and what have you done with Keith?"

"What do you mean?"

"How'd you get so smart?"

"I always have been. I just don't show it."

"Sure you don't," Jack said.

"Be quiet. Last one down's a rotten egg." Keith grabbed Jack and jumped down the hole.

--

**Author's Note: I had a lot of fun writing the first part of the actual forest part just because it was absolute pwnage by Jack, Jill, and Keith. And I'd seen Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Man's Chest recently and if you've ever seen that you can figure out where the Jill wiping her hanckerchief off after killing those two guys comes from. Something makes me think I put more humor in this chapter than any other. Maybe I'm in a good mood.**

**-Brooklyn "Fueled by Rise Against, Relient K, Superchick, Insyderz, and other various artsists" Peterson**


	19. The Inverted Tower

**Chapter 18: The Inverted Tower**

The wind whistled through Keith's hair as he fell. Suddenly the ground came much sooner than Keith expected. He threw Jack up and rolled out as he hit the ground.

"Oof!" Jack breathed.

"Sorry about that. Roll over," Keith said. Jack did so and a second later Jill landed where he had been lying.

"So where are we now?" Jill asked.

"Underground," Jack said.

"Somehow I perceived that," Jill retorted. "Keith?"

Uh… and underground building. Sorry. That's all I got."

"There is a bunch of people below us. Look for a door," Jack mumbled. There indeed was a door to their left in the circular room in which they stood. Keith grabbed one of Jack's arms.

"Jill." Jill came over and grabbed his other arm. Supporting him, they walked towards the door slowly. Keith pushed it open to reveal a staircase. Jill tossed a shuriken down the steps, and seeing nothing happen, the three proceeded down the steps. It was a short staircase, doubling back on itself only once. At the bottom was another door. A low murmur could be heard from behind the door.

"Charles, Donn, Kim, Margo, Courtney, Logan, three other Leaf ninjas, six sand, and three sound. Several senseis…" Jack muttered.

"Wait, are you using your Shadow Eyes?" Jill asked. Jack hesitated but nodded. "You shouldn't be! We have no clue what they have in store for us in there. You need to rest as much as possible so you can heal!"

"Relax Jill. He will live," Keith said. "Probably."

"Keith!"

"Man Jill, the way you act someone might think you care for Jack a lot." Jill's cheeks turned red instantly.

"No! That's ridiculous! He's just on our squad and I want us to succeed!" She paused. "You've been accusing me of liking boys a lot lately. Someone might think _you_ have feelings for _me_." Keith smirked.

"Nah. I just like to antagonize." And with that comment he pushed open the door before them.

Inside was a massive room. At one end were two giant stone arms connecting in the neutral hand pose. On the sides of the room were balconies, raised almost twenty feet off the ground or about halfway to the ceiling. Compact sets of stairs led up to them. In the center of the room stood a group of about thirty ninja, Genin and sensei alike. All looked when the group opened the door and as they walked in awkwardly, supporting Jack. Immediately Chris appeared next to them.

"I knew you'd make it. You are the best group I ever taught," he said. Keith though for a moment.

"Aren't we the _only_ group you've taught?" he inquired. Chris smiled.

"Yep, but that doesn't matter." As he finished his sentence, a woman seemed to materialize next to him.

She wore plain sandals on her feet and tan pants rolled up to her shins. Upon her torso was a green vest over a light red shirt. Her headband was of the Leaf Village, and it pulled back her long brown hair.

"Be thine students of weak heart? I see they are as the moon to the sun and almost as low as insects," she said towards Chris, surveying the squad.

"Thine own assumption wouldst only be correct if swine bore wings and did utilize them for flight. My students beist of natures far outshining the moon and stars. Of thine potential I cannot speak for the words of this language do not suffice to fulfill it and give it justice," Chris responded.

"Thee doth praise them as though they are kings and queens, but mine eyes hath not seen their skill so may it be said that I shall desist for now. I wouldst say however that thine child in the middle beist the weakest for all doth see him pant." And with that she vanished in a cloud of smoke.

"What just happened?" Keith asked.

"Didst thou not comprehend the events?"

"I did not."

"That is Rachel. She is the sensei of the other Leaf squad here. She said you were weak because you were last and that you looked tired. I claimed her statement was only true in an unreal world and that you are great. Then she said I praise you too much but that she cannot judge you yet. And she called Jack particularly weak."

"Does she always talk like that?" Jill asked.

"Always," Chris replied, nodding.

"How do you understand it?" Jack asked.

"Practice," Chris replied simply. "What did happen to you Jack?"

"I got punched in the stomach by a stone man." Chris' left eye turned purple as he observed Jack's stomach. He bit his lip.

"That looks severe," he commented. He pulled a small purple pill from his pouch and gave it to Jack. "I did _not_ give this to you." And he vanished. Jack popped the pill in his mouth, and the squad walked towards the crowd in the middle of the room. A ninja noted their approach by writing on a clipboard. Then a voice yelled over the small chit chat,

"Line up in your squads!" The crowd redefined itself quickly. Soon there were seven lines of three.

"Congratulations!" the voice shouted again. It came from a ninja in front of the seven squads. "You have successfully completed the second test of the Chunin Exams. The third test will begin shortly." Several lips were bit, several gasps heard, and many ninja started to breath deeply. No one had expected the next test this soon. "It will consist of several one on one fights. You will fight one fight with another ninja who has made it here. Many of you are no doubt tired and in need of rest. Anyone who does not believe they will be able to compete may leave now."

Another silence ensued. Nobody moved. Finally the female ninja from the sound squad raised her hand and uttered,

"I will leave." Her teammates nodded a little as if they expected this, and she left through the door.

"Any others?" the ninja asked. This time no one consented. "Good. We are left with twenty which means we will have ten matches. Our computer will randomly pair two ninjas together." The ninja pointed to a large monitor above the hands. "The first match will be between…" Names started flashing quickly across the screen as the computer sorted through the list. The computer finally stopped, and two names were left on the screen with a large "VS" between them. "Logan and Bonsin. Everyone else make your way to the observation balconies." As everyone did this Logan and Bonsin, who was a sound ninja, made their way to the center of the room. Logan noticed something strange about Bonsin. There was a vacant look in his eyes.

"Hey Bonsin! Are you blind?" Logan asked.

"Yes. I am blind," Bonsin responded.

"How can you fight if you can't see?"

"I use echolocation."

"So if I was really loud, you couldn't fight?"

"Don't be silly. I use a different form that involves chakra." Logan opened his mouth to ask about it. "No. I'm not explaining it to you." Logan closed his mouth. The proctor walked up between them.

"This fight is won when one of you is unable to fight. Whether this is because of exhaustion, injury, or death is of no consequence. Do you both understand?" Logan and Bonsin nodded. The proctor backed up a few steps and raised his arm. "Fight!" he cried swinging his arm down and jumping back. Bonsin shot his right hand forward, and a blast of blue shot out of it. Logan was surprised by the quick and unusual attack and was hit head on by it in his chest. He fell over and rolled backwards into a crouch.

_Yikes! _thought Logan. _He's got some crazy chakra control. I don't really want to kill him but…_ Logan ran at Bonsin and began doing hand signs. When he was a few feet from Bonsin, he jumped and shouted,

"Shrinking Jutsu!" Logan's form shrunk as it flew towards Bonsin until he could no longer be seen. For a while Bonsin just stood in place. Then he slapped his hand to his right ear. A look of utter horror crossed his face.

"No! No, no, no, no, no, no! Get out of my head!" Bonsin shouted. Ashley, who stood next to Matt and Chris watching the match, tensed.

"Oh no," she said moving her hand over her mouth.

"What?" Chris asked.

"He's going to… his head… and… oh. Ugh," she said closing her eyes. Chris and Matt smiled as they realized what was going to happen.

"No! Logan, please no!" Bonsin screamed. He grabbed his head and fell to the ground in convulsions. The skin on his head began splitting and blood gushed out. His useless eyes bulged and were pushed out of their sockets. Then the pieces of his head shot away from one another. Out the wreckage of Bonsin's head grew Logan. Everyone in the room stared at Logan standing over Bonsin's corpse. The proctor soon recovered and announced,

"Logan is the winner." Logan ran up the steps to stand next to Donn and Courtney.

"Dude! That was disgusting!" Donn said, slapping him a high five.

"Yeah, uh… nice job, Logan," Courtney managed. She was extremely pale.

"Thanks guys," Logan said. The proctor interrupted Logan's congratulations.

"The computer will now pair the next two combatants." Once again the monitor showed several names being filtered through until it finally stopped on two names.

"Keith and Narada, please come forth."

________________________________

**Author's Note: Okay, so I haven't updated in like a year, and you know what? I don't even have an excuse. I'm just lazy. However, I am trying very hard to get back into writing this story. I am very sorry for making anyone who reads this wait sooooooooo long. And this is one of the shorter chapters I've written too. Oh well. Please don't kill me.**


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